Doctors In Waiting
by Galfridus
Summary: Set in 21st Century Oxford. A schoolgirl crush, an overbearing father, a demanding supervisor and a troubled best friend. And that's without mentioning the brothers and the painfully difficult PhD thesis. What happened to Meliodas one academic year. Complete.
1. In My Place

_Hi. I intended this to be a Melizabeth story but it morphed into an exploration of family and friendship. Much of this is based on my experience of studying, though not at Oxford, so if you know the university you will likely find the descriptions of the interiors a little off. If you're familiar with British politics, you will recognise that this is set in the 2016/17 academic year starting in October and finishing in July._

 _Meliodas' father is called Lord Lorimer as I couldn't really have the demon king himself wandering about the Houses of Parliament in 21st century Britain. Indeed as he is a lowly human Lord Lorimer does not look like the demon king, though personality-wise I've tried to keep him broadly in character. In keeping with this, he is referred to as the prince of darkness, a sobriquet given to him by the press._ _There is a real politician who is sometimes called the prince of darkness, rather unkindly, in the British media. As you might expect, Lord Lorimer just has his nickname and does not bear any relationship to this man whatsoever._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: In My Place**

It was early morning and Meliodas smiled as he felt the chill autumn wind whip round his face, the blonde locks which flicked past his eyes in the breeze partially obscuring his vision. He set a brisk pace, taking in the sparking gleam of the canal and the shimmering reflection of the wispy branches of yellow-leafed willow on its surface. He crossed over the bridge and made his way up towards the Ashmolean, turning into St John's Street before he reached the elegant columns of the famous museum. The air was crisp and bracing and Meliodas took eager breaths of it, feeling his body relax as the fire of the cold flew all through to his lungs.

This was nice. A new term, a new start he thought as he made his way quickly past the pale stone of the houses which lined either side of the road as they shone in the soft dawn light. He was finally back in Oxford. No more fieldwork, no more travelling, no more living out of a rucksack while crashing on his brother's uncomfortable sofa or staying in the cheapest hotels on the market. He shuddered as he recalled the last hell hole he'd had the misfortune to base himself in while he carried out interviews at the nearby tax office. The room he'd chosen as the only one whose price fit his budget was above a pub, which was fine, but which also boasted a karaoke machine. The stress of trying to work and sleep there while some persistent girl screeched until the small hours of the morning had made his body protest and his head ache.

And, of course, no more Deldry. Meliodas had made up his mind while he was away that he had to end it with her. The spark had long gone, they were so like brother and sister at this point that the sex felt disgusting, though it had taken him far too long to notice his insistent need to shower after the deed was done and really understand the implications of his response. He was sickened with their tedious conversations by rote which never tested new territory and the way she purposely flirted with any adult male who crossed her path in a failed bid to make him jealous.

He'd thought seriously about leaving her a number of times over the years, even getting as close as telling his brother he was going to break it off. He remembered he had been slightly taken aback by Estarossa's delighted encouragement, and felt his resolve grow as he realised how little his brother thought of her. But every time he'd got close to saying the words that would end it, he'd found himself pulling back as if he was under some kind of spell. The power of sentiment he supposed, and of not wanting to live alone. It was solitary enough as a PhD student without having to face an empty bed every night.

But he'd finally done it, realising his time on his own in hotels, although miserable, was better than living at home with his girlfriend. Deldry had taken it hard. There had been tears, recriminations, the promise to change and finally the threat of suicide, which had made his stomach turn and effectively killed any lingering sense of attachment he might have felt for her. Meliodas knew in that moment that her efforts were to save the lifestyle she was losing and not for him. Even now, he still felt his stomach clench in disgust, mortified that he relied on his father so much for everything, even the love he thought he had earned.

He'd let her stay in the apartment, taking himself off to London and the distraction of Estarossa and his weird friends while Deldry found herself another place to live. When he had come back a month later the apartment had felt different. She had pushed the keys through the letter box and the sight of them on the mat as he opened the door had brought Meliodas a surge of relief and excitement. But if he was honest the silence echoing round the hall in that moment also made him regret his decision. He had never really lived alone having spent his time before Deldry in boarding school and then the student accommodation in Jesus College. Now that he was faced with the prospect, he was not sure he liked it.

The furniture was all there, as were most of the books piled on the shelves next to the staircase, but there were other bits missing. The antique clock they had bought together in the covered market and the delicate pink orchid that was a gift from her parents were both gone. Their absence was expected, it was fair enough for Deldry to take them, but it made the apartment look disconcertingly different.

Meliodas had regretted brushing off Estarossa's suggestion that he join him in Oxford for a bit. His brother had taken four weeks off work to make sure Meliodas had no time to think or regret, and of course Estarossa knew all of the best places to go. His brother had, to his father's great irritation, not followed his elder to Oxford or even to Cambridge which would have been a passable second. He had graduated from the London School of Economics and then quickly found a highly lucrative job in investment banking. He worked hard and played hard, pulling twelve hour days before exploring the debauchery of the city at night, learning the ins and outs of the capital like the back of his hand. He had made sure Meliodas had no time to think or regret. But now term had started and Meliodas told himself firmly that he was ready to return to his neglected thesis and the simple pleasure of a quiet night's sleep. But as he'd made his way through the apartment checking everything was where it should be, he'd wished Estarossa was with him. Truth be told he was not ready for this.

Meliodas made his way out of St John Street and into the quiet of Wellington Square, pulling the collar of his black wooden coat up to ward off the cold as the central garden and its bundle of red-leaved trees rose into view. As the department building came in sight, he acknowledged his need for some human contact and hoped at least some of the others were working in the office that morning. Diane was collecting data in Indonesia and it was an established fact that King hardly ever showed up for work, but Gowther might be there. Last he'd heard Gowther had scored a paid internship with a massive pharmaceutical company, but that was supposed to have finished. Meliodas sighed, they were sure to have paid him very well for his research and it must be tempting not to come back.

Meliodas went through the doors of the department building and made his way up the stairs. With fingers that trembled slightly in anticipation, he punched the never changing key code into the door before pulling it open to finally say something to someone, his face alight with a welcoming grin.

But there was no-one there. He had the office to himself.

"What gives?" Meliodas asked the empty room, before shrugging and making his way to the fastest computer. Being first in had its advantages. He could use this processor to re-run his model, building in the new specification his qualitative interviews had suggested would improve the results. It was a complex change and he'd need all the power he could get.

The build took a little time as Meliodas worked carefully to check the specification was right. Once ready, this model would show which taxpayers were likely to be hiding their incomes and were thus a good bet for an audit. It would help the state collect billions of pounds in unpaid taxes, and was well worth all the hassle to get right, even though the work was simultaneously stressful and boring.

Before he knew it, several hours had passed and as Meliodas looked up at the clock he decided he had genuinely earned a short break. Stretching out his arms to place them round the back of his head he walked out of the office and round the hall to the common room. Diane had left loads of coffee behind and he was going to steal some.

When he punched in the code and opened the door he was surprised to find someone asleep on the sofa. The man lying there was enormous, impossibly tall, barely fitting on the tattered three seater. Even in the cold, the man wore nothing but a tight t-shirt showing off powerful muscles and scuffed cord trousers that barely came up to his waist, exposing his toned lower stomach. His head was wedged carefully into the corner of the cushions for support, the position giving his spikey white hair a mussed-up appearance. As he snored gently, Meliodas could see though his open mouth that he sported sharp fangs for canines. Even in sleep, this man looked pretty fierce.

Eyebrows raised, Meliodas made his way to the kitchen area, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he took in the mess it had turned into in the few short months he'd been away. He knew he was the only one who ever cleaned it, but he was still cross that the pristine pale blue laminate worktop he had left behind had descended into an absolute health hazard. As the kettle boiled, he scrubbed the surface and cleaned the sink, annoyed that he was forced to use washing up liquid because of the lack of bleach. Once the coffee was ready, he took one mug over to the sleeping man and gently shook him awake.

"It's a bit early for a nap isn't it?" Meliodas asked, a bright smile on his face as he shoved a mug under the man's nose. "Here, I figured you'd want this. There's no milk I'm afraid. Well, there is but you don't want to drink it."

"Thanks," groaned the man in return before sitting up and taking a sip of the steaming hot liquid, exposing a nasty gash of red scar tissue which ran down his jaw to his left shoulder. Whatever had caused that must have hurt. Meliodas waited patiently for more, but nothing came.

"So, are you going to tell me who you are and what you're doing here?" Meliodas asked, the bright smile still in place.

"Huh, sure I guess. I'm Ban. Just started today," the man sighed, his eyes flashing momentarily as he looked up.

"You're on the PhD programme?" Meliodas asked, his green eyes widening in surprise. The man in front of him looked like anything but an academic. Meliodas checked himself, making these lazy judgements was part of what made his family one of the most reviled in Britain and he needed to stop himself falling into this trap.

"What's your research going to be on?"

"I dunno really, whatever I feel like when it comes to it," Ban replied lazily, his voice coming in a sing-song lilt. Meliodas took the hint. No-one got on the programme without a proposal, Ban obviously just didn't want to talk about it.

"So, why are you sleeping here?" Meliodas asked. "Late night?"

"Rough night," came the response. Again Meliodas waited and again nothing further.

"Fair enough. I'm Meliodas and this is my third year. Let me show you where the office is. It's just us today by the looks of things. This coffee is Diane's and she's in Indonesia so she's not going to miss it. Help yourself." Meliodas stood, waiting for Ban to join him. The long man stretched out his legs and Meliodas appreciated for the first time just how tall he was. Ban towered over him when he drew himself up.

They made their way to the office in silence. Ban chose a computer in the corner, as far away from Meliodas as possible. That was a bit hurtful, but Meliodas was used to it, although usually this happened after people found out about his background not on first acquaintance. He worked really hard to come across as playful and friendly to delay seeing the revulsion in people's eyes when they realised who his father was.

They worked in silence. Meliodas was pleased with the way the model had come out. The results were much easier to interpret and the diagnostic tests suggested the fit was acceptable. He grinned, realising with delight that, for once, he could leave the office having achieved something tangible. Better stop now before he noticed something wrong and had to stay here all night fixing it.

As he started to pack up, pulling his coat over his jumper he caught sight of Ban hauling a large box into the room. This was not unusual, most of his peers stored their notes in this office, but Ban did not take out books or papers but rather a sleeping bag which looked like it had seen better days. This was not standard behaviour.

"What'cha doing?" Meliodas asked, as always working hard to keep any sign of disapproval out of his tone.

"What does it look like? Getting ready for bed," Ban replied, not even looking up as he laid the sleeping bag out on the floor.

"Yes, but why are you going to sleep here?" Meliodas asked gently.

"If you must know I just split up with my girlfriend. She kicked me out last night," Ban snapped, his lilting tone entirely absent and Meliodas was shocked to see the absolute desolation on the man's face and the desperation in his crimson eyes.

"Come and sleep at mine then. They'll turn the heating off soon and it will be absolutely freezing in here. I made the mistake of working through the night once, and it was a miracle I didn't die of hypothermia. I've got a spare room and it's comfortable enough."

Ban looked at him, a wary expression on his face. "Why would you make that offer? You don't even know me."

"I've just split up with my girlfriend too. This will sound silly, but the place is a bit lonely and company would be nice," Meliodas said, deciding honesty and a complete absence of pity would work best in this situation.

A pause followed, the silence only interrupted by the steady ticking of the clock on the wall. Okay, thanks," Ban said, rolling his sleeping bag back up and shoving it into the worn box. The force of the motion caused the fraying cardboard seams to give way and all of Ban's possessions spilled out over the floor.

Meliodas gasped. He'd never seen anyone with so little. Even if Ban had just taken the essentials away following the fight with his girlfriend he should have more than this. All he owned were basically piles scribbled notes, this threadbare sleeping bag and a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Reaching into a drawer, Meliodas took out some plastic bags he kept there in case he wanted to buy groceries on the way home and, handing one to Ban, he started packing everything up.

"Come on!" he said when they'd completed the task and, smiling over his shoulder and shutting off the lights, Meliodas led Ban out of the door.

* * *

Meliodas half awoke to the sunlight insistently invading his room around the edges of the blackout curtains. He lay back groggily, waiting for his mind to catch up as he slowly reached for his phone to check the time. It was eleven am. Why was he so tired?

Then he remembered. He and Ban had stayed up talking about everything and nothing until the small hours of the morning. The hulk of a man had opened up on seeing Meliodas' apartment and had ribbed him non-stop about the extent of the luxury it afforded. Ordinarily, this sort of observation embarrassed Meliodas no end, but Ban had been so funny about it he'd found himself smiling then laughing along. They'd gone over the whole place like kids, Ban pointedly asking what he needed with four bedrooms anyway, adding that if he was running a brothel there was probably no need for Egyptian cotton sheets, the clients wouldn't care and would only mess them up.

Once they'd got talking they had found they couldn't stop and had even ended up arm wrestling at one point, knocking over a table and smashing a vase in the process. Ban had been rather surprised when Meliodas had given as good as he got in terms of physical strength, which had led to a discussion about push-ups and a bet as to who could do the most in ten minutes. The drinks cabinet had been opened and Meliodas shuddered slightly when he remembered they'd finished off his father's best bottle of vintage port. He'd pay for that when it was discovered.

Stretching, Meliodas stumbled out of bed, straightening the pillows and duvet before smoothing them over, debating whether or not to get changed before deciding that his boxers and t-shirt would be decent enough. He splashed his face and brushed his teeth in the ensuite bathroom before heading out into the corridor. The bedrooms were all on the ground floor, with the living area situated above and Meliodas could hear footsteps padding along through the ceiling, telling him that Ban must already be up. As he rounded the top of the spiral staircase, he was met with an abundance of light streaming through the huge wall of windows which covered the entirety of one side of the room and an amazing smell wafting over from the kitchen area in front. Ban was sideways to him busy over the hob and was humming along with the cracking sound of frying.

"Here you go", Ban said, turning towards Meliodas to place a couple of plates on the glass-topped bar. Removing his apron, Ban strode out of the kitchen and draped himself over one of the chrome bar stools, picking up a fork in the process.

"What's this for?" asked Meliodas. "Not that I'm complaining," he added, hopping up next to Ban. It felt like ages since he'd had something appetising to eat.

"I lost the bet," Ban said with a puckish grin and Meliodas was struck by the change this brought to his countenance. He looked like a mischievous imp. "You did more push ups than me, remember?" He looked Meliodas up and down as he said this. "You hide it well. You look like a weakling when you're not showing your arms, but you're packing it aren't you?"

"So I can win bets like this." Meliodas smiled back, taking a bite of the Spanish omelette. "This is amazing!"

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Ban interjected, "What's with your name anyway? Never heard anyone being called Meliodas before."

"Yeah, it's Arthurian, but not one of the characters you'll have heard of," Meliodas replied. "My father is a real one for picking names which make sure his children get bullied. I'm just glad it's not Lancelot," he added, chuckling along with Ban's laughter.

"My poor brothers both got it worse. They're Estarossa and Zeldris." Meliodas smiled up at Ban, before registering that his tall companion's face was suddenly tense, a flash of anger evident in his fiery eyes.

"You don't mean Zeldris as in Zeldris Lorimer?" Ban asked darkly.

"Yes. That's us." Meliodas sighed inwardly. Stupid of him to have said it. The family name always ruined everything. This friendship was over, though usually it was not linked to his youngest brother in any way. He was only eighteen.

"What's Zeldris done to upset you?" Meliodas enquired. "He's a bit of a prig but no more so than your average teenager."

"You didn't catch his speech at Tory Party Conference?" Ban spat out aggressively. "Some brother you are, or did you agree with him?" Ban's expression was practically murderous with this.

Meliodas paused. He'd forgotten about that and Ban was right, it had been remiss of him. He and Estarossa had turned on Sky News a few weeks ago to watch Zeldris take the podium at the Conservative Party's annual conference, a mixture of policy announcement and political posturing that both he and his middle brother found tedious. Zeldris had started well, his dark eyes flashing with authority, commanding attention, and he appeared to have an easy control of the room. It was not often that young people were invited to speak from the main podium, let alone given such a high billing. Their father had been a cabinet minister in his time and despite his chequered career was still admired by many in the party. Zeldris had also been in the newspapers over the summer and had managed to hold his own with the journalists, so perhaps the choice was not so surprising. Still, Meliodas had been taken aback that his brother seemed so at ease and confident with the nation's attention focused on him.

But before Zeldris had got much into his speech the cameras had panned to their father, his pale face a picture of greedy delight as he gazed lavishingly at their youngest brother from the front row. In silent agreement Meliodas and Estarossa had immediately switched off the TV and headed straight for the pub. Their father's expression had made them both feel sick and cold as they remembered all the times he looked at them in rage rather than adoration. They hadn't even followed up Zeldris' speech in the news coverage, just drinking and drinking until Lord Lorimer's ghastly look had faded from memory.

"No, I didn't see it. What did he say?" Meliodas asked softly.

"That spending money on child social care is dragging the UK into the gutter," Ban growled, his eyes showing livid anger.

"Really?" Meliodas asked surprised. What had been going on with his youngest sibling? That was extreme even for him.

"And that a flat tax is the only way forward, among other stuff, those bits were the worst," said Ban. He looked at Meliodas carefully. "I can't believe you're his brother. You don't come across as a despicable arsehole."

"He's completely obsessed with a flat tax," Meliodas moaned. "He thinks he's being really clever, as if he's the first one who's thought of it. But he doesn't know the first thing about the tax system. He'll grow out of it," he added, his voice sounding more confident than he felt. "I rather think he supports the idea just because he knows I hate it so much. He and I don't get on so well.

"Look, I know my family aren't exactly, you know..." he added weakly. He sighed. "My father and I don't see eye to eye anyway. He's been cross with me ever since I started my PhD. The plan was for me to be a Member of Parliament by now, but he's put up with me so far. Who knows how long that will last. He'll be mad when he finds out I split up with Deldry. She's impoverished nobility," he added in answer to Ban's questioning stare.

"Look, don't think too badly of Zeldris," Meliodas added. "It's not been easy for him."

"Right, having all this wealth must be so difficult," sneered Ban. "Poor you."

"I didn't mean that," Meliodas continued sadly as Ban glowered at him. He decided he'd have to try and explain. "My father is horrible. Really, really horrible. He's hard to cope with and poor Zeldris has had the brunt of it. My father adores him, but that's because he controls him. Zeldris has never had any freedom at all..." Meliodas stopped short, realising the full truth of this for the first time.

"Lord Lorimer, the prince of darkness. Is he as bad as the media make out?" Ban asked, returning to his standard nonchalant sing-song tone and Meliodas felt himself sigh with relief. Ban's anger had lessened and if he played his cards right it might still be possible to salvage the friendship.

"He's... worse." Meliodas broke off, distracting himself by collecting up the empty plates and moving round the countertop to put them in the dishwasher.

"So listen, do you want to stay here for a bit?" Meliodas asked. "My family aside, I think we get on pretty well." He held his breath, hoping against hope that Ban would say yes. It had been such a relief to have someone to talk to and Ban was more fun to be with than anyone he had ever met.

"I can't," said Ban, but his voice was laced with melancholy, without any trace of the anger which had been there before.

"I promise my father won't visit or anything and Zeldris has rooms in college this year..." Meliodas started as Ban cut him off.

"There's no way I can afford to stay in a place like this. I've got nothing."

"That's okay, I don't need the money. Just pay me whatever you gave to your ex, Elaine wasn't it?" Meliodas smiled, then felt a surge of pity as Ban looked quickly down at the countertop, the desolate expression back on his face. Elaine was obviously not a safe topic of conversation just yet.

Meliodas did his best to let the ringing silence which followed well alone, waiting patiently for Ban to speak.

"I didn't pay her anything," Ban finally whispered, the words obviously forced out unwillingly. "I really have got nothing. She's been keeping me for years..." Ban's head fell into his hands at this, his fingers weaving into the spikes of his hair.

Meliodas was not surprised. He had guessed at significant hardship from yesterday's discussions, though Ban had not shared anything concrete about his background.

"You can cook though," Meliodas answered brightly. "How about you supply all the meals? I really, really can't cook myself. And if it makes you happier I'm sure you could get a job with Jesus College's bar and pay me whatever you can. They owe me a favour," Meliodas continued heading off Ban's objection.

"I don't need charity!" Ban snapped back.

"It's not. It's helping a friend get back on their feet, okay? You'll do the same for me down the line," Meliodas answered, watching Ban carefully.

Ban stared at the countertop for a good five minutes, while Meliodas moved to the sink to wash up. Ban was a good cook but also a messy one, he thought as he scrubbed the pan before clearing away the detritus surrounding the hob.

"Alright, if you're sure," Ban finally replied and Meliodas grinned in delight.

"So how about a rematch? Let's see if you can beat me this time," Meliodas demanded as he placed his elbow down on the countertop.

"What are you talking about? I won the last one!" Ban argued as he eagerly took the proffered hand.


	2. A Night On The Tiles

**Chapter 2: A Night On The Tiles**

Meliodas wove his way through the dark tunnels towards the table where Ban was waiting. It was the last week of term and although the weather was wet, cold and miserable the student body was in good spirits, ready for Christmas. Most were returning to their families over the weekend and were eagerly draining the last drop of their meagre bank balances, safe in the knowledge that their loving parents would feed them well into the new year once they were home.

The Purple Turtle, Meliodas thought. An absolute institution of Oxford student nightlife. He hated coming here but it was cheap and cheerful and the DJ played party classics on Wednesdays, the traditional night for university students to descend on the clubs across Britain. Meliodas and Ban usually avoided the Wednesday crush, but they were both feeling poor and the bargains designed to lure in cash-strapped students were too good to miss. At that moment, the sound system was blasting out Daft Punk's _Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger_ which always made Meliodas think of Estarossa. His younger brother had listened to that on a loop when revising for his school-leaving exams. Meliodas had visited him at boarding school during weekends to help him master some of the tricker bits of the maths A Level syllabus and to make sure his naturally hedonistic brother stayed on track with his revision. The work had paid off and Estarossa had got the grades he'd needed to go to LSE.

Zeldris had of course not required such assistance, nor would he have welcomed it from anyone, let alone his eldest brother. He was fiercely clever and extremely hard-working. Without any help, he had made the national press for achieving top marks in every subject he had taken, this minor notoriety plus their father's name leading to the invitation to speak at Conservative Party Conference. Over the past term, Meliodas had learned that his speech had gone down extremely well with the university's notoriously right-wing branch of the party, and that Zeldris was well on his way to taking over leadership of the group. This was a standard first step on the ladder for an aspirant politician and Meliodas felt some concern that his brother was so blindly following their father's instructions.

Thankful for his short, slight stature, Meliodas easily navigated his way through the crowds of drinkers, avoiding the perilously low stone ceiling without any effort despite the dark of the room.

"Here you go, thanks for waiting. Five pints of lager. Drink up!" Meliodas said brightly plonking the foaming cups down on the table in front of his friend, the glasses clinking slightly as they knocked together.

"Wow. You rock!" shouted Ban, grabbing two of the glasses and pouring the contents of them straight down his throat, one after the other.

"He, he. There was a special offer on, five for the price of four," Meliodas sang out with a smirk. "Way too good to pass up."

"How did you even carry them all over here?" Ban asked with difficulty, his words slightly slurred. "Your hands are tiny."

"I was a bartender in a previous life." Meliodas grinned back, copying Ban and drinking two pints himself.

"So who gets this one?" Ban asked, gesturing at the remaining pint, a definite hic showing he was beginning to feel the effects of intoxication. Normally it would take Ban more than this to show he was drunk, but the club did not open up until ten so they had shared a couple of bottles of wine over dinner and downed two shots of vodka for luck before setting off.

"Wanna arm wrestle for it?" Ban asked, leering with the effects of the booze.

"Nah, we'll bust up the place and I don't wanna leave till I can't see straight," Meliodas replied, also beginning to slur his words slightly. It took a lot for him to get truly drunk, but even he was on the way to reaching his limit.

"Tell you what, I got paid yesterday. Next round's on me," Ban said, rising unsteadily to his feet and making his way towards the bar, swaying slightly with the effort.

Meliodas sat back and watched his friend as he disappeared off into the crowds. He looked around. The idea of tonight was to get laid or get wrecked and Meliodas wondered if there was any prospect of taking someone home for the night. It had been ages since he'd spent time with a woman romantically and a sexual liaison was long overdue. It was easy enough. With a certain class of female the mere mention that he was Lord Lorimer's son was enough to bring them around to the idea. Most people knew his family was loaded and that was all it took for some, the thought of the wealth outweighing any distaste they felt. While he did not like flashing his family name about he was more than prepared to do it to secure an easy one night stand, however crap he felt about it afterwards. The thought made him impatient for Ban to return so that he could go and take a proper look round.

Ban came back, multiple glasses in hand.

"Great offer!" he said unsteadily as he set five more pints down on the table.

"Cheers to that!" Meliodas replied downing another two pints. "It's been too long since I've got wasted like this."

"So are you going to go home for Christmas?" Ban asked matching his drinking partner pint for pint, the words only just distinguishable. "Coz I'm staying right here."

"I'll go to my father for the day itself, but otherwise no. Estarossa and I spend as little time as possible at at the ancestral place," Meliodas replied. "Father takes us to church to show us off, well to show Zeldris off anyway, and then we spend the day drinking and avoiding each other. I'll come back here on Boxing Day."

"Wow, that's rough," Ban replied. "Don't you ever go home to visit properly?"

"Nah. Zeldris goes back sometimes but Estarossa and I avoid the place like the plague. We only go to my father's twice a year, for Christmas and February fifth".

"What's so special about February fifth?" Ban enquired, his eyes glazing over.

"We all go to put flowers on my mother's grave. She died when I was seven. Placental abruption," Meliodas said quietly. "I remember looking out of the window and seeing her being lifted into the ambulance. She was bleeding so much I thought the white blanket they'd put over her was red..." Meliodas shook himself. He must be more drunk than he realised to have said all that out loud.

Ban put his pint glass down. "I'm really sorry," he said, the slurring a bit less evident, his red eyes unusually soft. "My mum's dead too. Died when I was eight."

Meliodas waited. They'd been living together for nearly three months now and in all that time Ban had not revealed a single thing about his life. Meliodas had respected his privacy, but admitted to himself that he was curious. He'd watched Ban as he embarked on his PhD, dragging Ban along to the seminars the Social Policy research students put on to showcase their work. Ban gave off the impression of being less than astute but Meliodas had long since discovered that this was a facade. When he got talking, it was clear that Ban had an easy command of the broad discipline which was home to students studying everything from international development to demography, from poverty measurement to spending on pensions. He'd made intelligent enquires of Gowther's complex examination of demand for brand-named drugs when generics came on the market and found a serious hole in King's plans to look at adult social care. His own work had however remained shrouded in mystery, though Meliodas had weedled out of Ban that it was something to do with higher education policy.

Meliodas could not believe Ban had not secured funding for his work, but then the availability of grants had dropped dramatically since the economic crash. He felt a hot flush of shame when he thought about this. He had funding himself, receiving an annual stipend from one of the UK's research councils thanks to his supervisor's recommendation. Merlin knew how to pull strings for her students. But Ban both needed it and deserved it more than he did.

"My dad killed her," Ban blurted out, and instantly Meliodas felt the warmth being sucked out of his cheeks and his heart miss a beat. "He was a nasty drunk, could never keep his fists to himself. That night he gave me this," Ban slurred as he gestured at the gash on his face. "She stood in front of me, tried to protect me and I was useless, I couldn't do anything..." Ban trailed off into silence.

"Oh, Ban!" Meliodas cried. He wanted to reach out and hug his friend tight but knew Ban well enough to anticipate that this wouldn't go down well, even in his current state of inebriation.

"My sister was four when we went into foster care. She was ill and starving. We only ate what I could steal and I was crap at it. I kept getting caught. They tried to save her, but she died too..." Ban trailed off again, his head bowed and his eyes fixed on the wooden table, scarred with white rings from alcohol-soaked glasses.

"She should have been taken into care years before, and your brother thinks too much public money is spent trying to protect the likes of us," Ban spat angrily, his eyes still looking downwards.

Meliodas opened his mouth, then closed it again. He was a master of argument, had even been president of the Oxford Union debating society in his day, but there was no answer to this. He looked at Ban, trying to think of how best to apologise.

"S'all right," Ban said, a grin returning to his face before he slammed another pint down his throat. "I know you're not like that. You're the best friend I've ever had."

"Zeldris shouldn't say crap like that," Meliodas said sadly, allowing silence to take over the conversation as he finished the last pint on the table.

"He'll learn," Ban said more lightly, the lilting tone back in place. Meliodas wasn't so sure. The rumours around the university about his brother did not make pleasant hearing. Zeldris was studying for a degree in history at Balliol College and after one term had already earned himself a dark reputation.

"My family owe you this," Meliodas said, extracting from his wallet the credit card which was connected to his father's account. He never used it, having worked his finances hard to make sure he did not have to. He budgeted carefully and took on extra research and teaching work so that he could make ends meet with his own income. But his father would most likely not notice, especially if he bribed his secretary to make no mention of it, and he was feeling sorry enough for Ban to forget his pride.

"Now you're talking!" Ban sang out. "That's his card is it? Let's go to town. What's the most expensive thing they do here?"

"Shots, and not good ones," Meliodas replied, his eyes smiling as he took in Ban's obvious enjoyment.

"Let's go somewhere fancy!" Ban slurred, his eyes leering up. "Or we could go to a strip club."

"No," replied Meliodas, examining Ban critically, "That's an amazing idea but we'll never get served in this state." And you'll regret it in he morning, he thought to himself. However Ban felt at this moment, Meliodas knew he still missed Elaine.

"Y'right. Let's buy port and cigars and go to the park."

"You're on," Meliodas laughed, helping Ban to his feet. Hesitatingly, their heads swimming with the effects of the alcohol, they made their way slowly out of the club.

* * *

About half an hour later, the pair were sitting in the middle of Wellington Square having jumped the iron fence to get into the garden next to their department's building. Ban had offered to hoist Meliodas over his shoulders, but Meliodas had just grinned and leapt over the fence in one fluid movement. Ban laughed, using his long legs to join him. They had taken their coats off and sat on them so as to avoid the wet grass and were blissfully smoking some of the most expensive cigars known to man while necking Dow's Silver Jubilee Vintage Port from the bottle.

"Man, I've always wanted to do this," Ban said, gratification sounding though every word as he took a deep swig from the bottle. "Why aren't you drinking?"

"Training," Meliodas replied. He'd sobered up quite a bit on the way. They'd gone via the apartment and Meliodas, being unable to think of where to buy quality cigars at one in the morning, had retrieved some from his father's collection, grabbing a bottle of his preferred port for good measure.

"You're not really supposed to do these two things together. The flavour of one spoils the other," Meliodas explained.

"That's you toffs all over, ruining all the fun. Just do it!" Ban huffed out, forcing the bottle into Meliodas' face.

"You're right." Meliodas smiled and put the bottle to his lips, annoyed that, as expected, the cigar really did spoil the experience.

"Sorry about earlier," Ban said, casting his eyes in the direction of the splash of vomit a few paces away.

"It's my fault. I should have told you you're not supposed to inhale," Meliodas smiled, wafting the cigar he held in the air as he spoke. "I made the same mistake the first time. I'd have made an absolute prat of myself if Estarossa hadn't angled me over the Thames. We were at the Savoy," Meliodas explained to Ban's raised eyebrows.

"I'm gonna sleep," Ban said suddenly, dribbling the last of the port into his mouth before lying down on the sodden ground in a foetal position.

"Good plan!" Meliodas yawned as the tiredness overtook him, lifting his arms to rest behind his head as he lay down, closing his eyes. He was beat.

He awakened to find someone shaking him.

"Um, please wake up," a soft voice sounded in his ear. "Your friend's really sick."

That got Meliodas' attention. He sat up as fast as he could, feeling his head swimming with alcohol and aching slightly, signalling the hangover to come as an absolute chill made itself known all through his limbs. He was freezing. What the hell was he doing sleeping outside in nothing but a sweater in the middle of winter?

"Ban, you alright?" he called out. There was no reply. Meliodas looked down at him and saw in the glow of the street lights that Ban had indeed been violently sick and that he was a peculiar colour.

"Shit!" Meliodas exclaimed. "Ban! Wake up!"

"We need to get him to a hospital," the soft voice said again and Meliodas looked to see who was speaking. In the neon glow of the street lamps, he saw an angel, a long-haired goddess of a woman with wide eyes and amazing breasts looking down at him and he wished fervently that he could see her in better light. Her pair looked absolutely perfect and his first instinct was to reach out and caress them. He slapped himself internally. Even in his drunken stupor he knew that this would not be a good plan.

"Can you help me with him?" Meliodas asked. "I can carry him home, but I can't get him over this fence safely on my own."

"I... I'll try, but don't you think we should call for an ambulance?" the girl asked hesitantly.

"Let's get him home and see. If you still think he needs it when we've got him warmed up then we'll call 999. And we have to get him out of this garden anyway."

Satisfied, the girl helped Meliodas struggle to push Ban's limp body to the top of the fence, accepting his offer to help her over so she could lower Ban carefully down on the other side. Meliodas put the coats they had discarded over the top of the black-painted spikes, last thing Ban needed was physical injury on top of potential alcohol poisoning. Safe over, Meliodas hoisted his friend on his shoulders, wrapping both coats round him in the process. He carried him back to the apartment over his shoulder, the girl walking by his side checking Ban's pulse as they travelled. Meliodas hurried as fast as he could under Ban's significant weight and he had never felt so pleased before that they lived so close by.

* * *

Ban was in a bad way, but once back in his room he had completely purged his stomach, spontaneously vomiting vigorously all over the en-suite bathroom a number of times and mercifully bringing himself out of danger. Meliodas' initial reaction was relief that the mess had missed the thick, cream carpet in the bedroom and would be easy to clean up, followed by guilt that this had even crossed his mind when Ban was so ill. But he'd be okay. The girl had patiently got him to sip water and Ban's pallor had gradually returned to normal, his breathing less stuttered and shallow.

Seeing Ban in very capable hands, Meliodas had given in to the urge and scrubbed the bathroom in earnest, pushing past the searing headache that had claimed his brain now the effects of the alcohol had mostly worn off. The white and gold tiles gleamed comfortingly and the whole room smelled of nothing but calming bleach once he had finished.

"Thanks, you're wonderful," Meliodas said as he came out of the bathroom, removing the light green rubber gloves he'd put on. He'd learned the hard way that cleaning with bleach without these was not a good plan, having lost the skin off his fingers and palms, leaving them red and sore when he had first experimented with the stuff. The girl kneeling by Ban's bedside straightened up as he approached, her back to him, and he marvelled at the way her long, silver hair cascaded like flawless silk all the way to her slim waist. He wondered what it would feel like to run his fingers through the soft tresses and down to tenderly explore her behind. He shook himself. That was twice now he'd caught himself contemplating what was essentially sexual harassment and he was a bit alarmed, having hoped the last one was just a drunken lapse. He enjoyed the fairer sex, but this level of perversion for a stranger was completely uncharacteristic.

"How did you find us?" Meliodas asked. He and Ban had deliberately chosen Wellington Square because it was a dead end, no-one should have wandered past on their way back from the clubs to their dorms.

"I volunteer for Nightline," said the girl, a sweet smile lighting up her whole face as she turned towards him. Meliodas had been too preoccupied with Ban and the clean up to fully appreciate that, even now he was sober and the lights were bright, her face was tantalisingly beautiful. He drank her in, marvelling at the deep, clear blue of her eyes framed by dark lashes and the attractive pink blush just beginning to form in her cheeks. And her figure was an absolute work of art, a perfect hourglass judging by the way her jeans hugged her curves. Meliodas looked up quickly, last thing he wanted was for her to catch him staring at her with intent.

"I was just leaving my shift when I saw you. I was going to leave you be but your friend started making weird noises so I went to check," she replied. Her voice was soft and soothing, and Meliodas could well believe she was a comfort to those who called the student helpline at night seeking someone to talk to. He had forgotten the charity had its office in Wellington Square.

"As well you did. I owe you one. Ban means the world to me," Meliodas said. This earned him a bashful look from the girl, her lips pressed slightly together and he noticed her hand playing with her frilly pink shirt in evident embarrassment at the slight praise. She looked adorable.

It was no good, he would just have to accept that he really liked the woman standing in front of him and had made the worst first impression imaginable. Plus he had no idea how to go about these things really. Deldry had pursued him, and while he was pretty good at getting girls into bed he had no real success to draw on in terms of creating something more permanent.

"Forgot the introductions. I'm Meliodas, this is Ban. We'd had a bit of a rough night, it had got a bit personal and we... sort of let ourselves go," he finished weakly. "Sorry we put you out."

"That's okay," she smiled, the warm look returning to her sweet features. "And, um, actually we have met before. It was a while back and there's no reason you'd remember," she continued in response to his raised eyebrows.

"I really don't remember, and I just can't imagine forgetting you. When was it we met?" Meliodas cursed himself internally, how much more embarrassment could he take tonight?

"It was in the viewing gallery at the House of Commons, years ago now. We were watching the debate on the Welfare Reform Bill. I was there with my sisters."

Meliodas felt the bottom drop out of his world and misery flood through him in response to her revelation. He knew who she must be now. She was one of the daughters of Bartra Liones, the light of the Labour Party who was being lined up as a future leader. Six years previous his father, as Work and Pensions Secretary, was at the dispatch box to introduce legislation which would radically change the benefits system, watched by his sons and the national media. It was supposed to be the crowning event of his father's career, the speech that would make him Prime Minister and he had dragged Meliodas from Oxford and his brothers out of school so they could be there for the victory photos. But Liones, a recent addition to the Labour front bench, had found every weak spot in the government's position, the forensic approach leaving his father an impotent mess of seething rage. Liones' arguments had carried the day. Unbelievably, the government had lost the vote, leaving their plans to slash the welfare budget in tatters and the opposition riding high in the polls.

Lorimer had hidden it well in front of the cameras but unleashed the brute force of his anger once they were back in their Kensington flat. Meliodas had actually been frightened, telling Estarossa quietly to get Zeldris to bed and make sure he stayed there, hoping to keep them both out of danger. It had been a mistake. Once Zeldris was out of earshot his father had towered over him, shaking with rage, his red-purple face pushed right up against his own. His father had even placed a hand round his throat at one point, squeezing tight for what felt like years but must have been just a few seconds before letting go. The verbal beating had been vicious, even now the memory of it made him feel trembly and sick. He should have known his father's thin mask of civility would stay on only as long as his youngest brother was there.

The debate had been the end of his father's political career. In the next reshuffle, he'd been removed from the cabinet and packed off to the House of Lords with a peerage. The loss had hit his father hard. Since then, he had done everything he could to live through his sons, grooming them to take up his mantle, growing increasingly furious with his eldest two children as they continually defied him and ever more fond of the youngest as he did exactly as he was told.

"Elizabeth, right?" Meliodas said, failing to keep the flat tone out of his voice. He had googled Liones soon after witnessing him in action, learning that he had three daughters. She must be the youngest of them judging from her age. He sighed. This was a bust before it had started. There was no way she'd give him the time of day and even if she did there was no way his father would stand for it.

"I'm sorry. You must have had a hard time that night," she said softly.

"What do you mean?" he shot back, failing to keep his voice sounding natural. He was spooked. How could she possibly have known? He and Estarossa had vowed never to say anything to anyone about what had happened and Zeldris had mercifully slept through it.

"I saw the way he looked at you," Elizabeth murmured, lowering her eyes. "He was so angry wasn't he? I wanted to bring you all home with us, but my father said no."

Meliodas did not trust himself to respond. He could feel a lump growing in the back of his throat and he took several deep breaths to try and stay in control. Without noticing, he let his head drop down so that his blonde bangs completely covered his bright green eyes. He looked as miserable as he felt, even though the tears had been successfully repressed.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Elizabeth said quietly, gently touching his arm.

"It was fine really, a bit tense is all," Meliodas lied, forcing his tone to be light and airy. "Your father was incredible."

"Another reason I thought you'd get into trouble. You were pleased they lost the vote weren't you?" Elizabeth asked, a cautious smile back on her lips.

"What gave me away?" Meliodas enquired, chuckling slightly as he made eye contact once more.

"You relaxed every time my father was speaking," she revealed, smiling sweetly in return, and he was lost once more in the calm serenity of her. He had indeed been pleased when his father had lost, hated that his father could not muster up enough compassion to understand that bad luck was just that, and that people needed the welfare state to protect them against it. Shit could happen to anyone, had happened to them in fact, just not in a way that affected their finances.

"So, are you studying here?" Meliodas asked, thinking he'd best move the conversation on to more familiar territory.

"Medicine at Balliol College, I'm in my third year," Elizabeth replied.

"Ban and I were very lucky to have an actual doctor take care of him," Meliodas responded. "I should have listened to you when you suggested the ambulance."

"No, I'm pleased you didn't. I was happy to take care of him. And, um, it was nice to see you again. I'm glad you're okay." She checked her watch. "I'd better go now. I've got lectures at nine but I'll come back and check on Ban tomorrow when labs have finished." She looked down at Ban, smoothing his hair away to feel his forehead and Meliodas instantly felt a rush of jealousy fire through him.

"Thanks. I'll see you out," he managed to say before leading Elizabeth into the hall, opening the front door for her.

"It's late, will you let me to come with you?" he asked her, feeling the cold, damp air on his face and noting how dark it was. The apartment was set back from the road behind an imposing gate, there were no streetlights here just silver moonlight.

"No, it's not far, I'm living in college."

Meliodas relaxed. Balliol was close by and the easiest way via George Street was well lit and likely to be lively enough even at this time of night.

"And, um, you look like you need sleep yourself," she added softly, and Meliodas realised that he must look an absolute state. Was there anything left that could possibly go wrong?

"I'll see you tomorrow," Elizabeth said as she twisted the scarf she wore in her slender fingers. Then she slipped through the gate, looking at Meliodas hesitatingly over her shoulder before she finally disappeared from view.


	3. The Reach Of The Past

**Chapter 3: The Reach Of The Past**

Elizabeth made her way up and over the canal to find her way back to college. She felt like she was floating, her heart glowing and her head swimming with perfect joy as she stepped lightly over the bridge, watching enchanted as the surface of the water shone in the moonlight. She had actually done it. She has finally introduced herself to Meliodas Lorimer after all these years of wanting to be closer to him and she had never felt so happy.

She had watched Meliodas intently that day, the debate swirling heatedly below while her eldest sister Margaret observed their father, calming taking notes, and Veronica listlessly leafed through a cheap fantasy novel. It was difficult to see down into the chamber through the plastic barrier which was there to protect the politicians from attack, so Elizabeth had looked across the rows of green-upholsered chairs, observing the people around her.

The teenager she had settled on had looked so sad, his large, sea-green eyes steady, trying to give nothing away but showing deep melancholy. His younger brother, who she later learned was called Estarossa, had made snarky remarks, giving her Meliodas' name and why he was there. She had noted the way his lips pursed very slightly when Lorimer was speaking, particularly when insults were levelled at the so-called work shy and lazy. Later she watched with astonishment as his shoulders fell a little bit in relief as the result of the vote was read out, although he had done his best to smooth his face into a neutral expression. She knew then that he was not like his father.

After the debate, she had found out everything she could about him. There was not much online but his list of friends on Facebook had been enough to show that had been to the famous Harrow boarding school and had then moved on to Oxford. The snippets of his life to be found on Twitter suggested he was studying politics, philosophy and economics and Elizabeth had wondered if, like his father, Meliodas had political aspirations. Her suspicion was confirmed when she had found Meliodas' name listed on Wikipedia as the president of the Oxford Union, his name appearing alongside a number of well known MPs who had also held the position.

Elizabeth had continued to track him, keeping tabs on social media accounts, looking at the posts his brothers and friends put online. She used the computer lab at school so her searches couldn't be traced. Her sisters would never let her live it down if they found out what she was doing. Meliodas did not put much online himself, but had uncharacteristically shared that he had secured funding to carry out research into tackling tax evasion. Elizabeth felt relief. This was not the action of someone who planned to stand for Parliament and the choice of subject proved his nobility. He could have chosen any subject to research, but had settled on doing something to make the rich contribute to society.

Suspecting Meliodas would remain in Jesus College with supervisor Merlin, who he very occasionally mentioned with fondness, Elizabeth had made up her mind to head to Oxford too. She had been planning to study in Edinburgh, finding the cobbled streets, cosy cafes and welcoming atmosphere pleasing when she had visited the university there. Even the smell of the place, warm with the toasting of hops, reminded her pleasantly of her Greenwich home. But she had put that aside in an instant. Enlisting the help of her teachers she had poured every moment of her spare time into preparing for the Oxford entrance exams, rejoicing when her application to study medicine there was successful. She didn't necessarily want to meet Meliodas, just to be closer to him so that she could watch him more easily.

But then she had actually seen him, his arm around another girl. She knew his reputation as a bit of a womaniser but this was clearly more than a fling. They had walked together, pressed close to one another as they navigated the High Street, discussing animatedly what they should buy as a wedding present for a mutual friend. In that moment, she realised that it was not the sadness of his features, but the absolute beauty of his face which had attracted her attention.

The revelation had finally given Elizabeth a bit of perspective and she had quickly done her best to move on, chastising herself for the stupid school-girl crush she had allowed to get well out of hand. She threw herself into her studies, making a real success of her work and had even dated a few fellow students over the years, although the relationships had never felt very satisfying. The only weakness in her plan came when she volunteered to answer phone calls for Nightline, discovering when training began exactly where the office was based. She had made sure to work later shifts, hoping that he would be gone before she arrived in the square. And it had worked, until that night. She had not even realised who it was lying in the middle of the garden until she was standing over him, debating whether or not she should shake him awake. And now they had really spoken. He had even called her wonderful, and she could not contain her absolute joy. It had meant more to her than she had ever imagined.

Practically skipping down George Street, Elizabeth turned around, dancing with delight, arms wrapped around a lamp post before stumbling slightly. She smiled, even elation apparently could not make her less clumsy but what did that matter? She practically ran through the gates of Balliol, giving a grin to the porter as she hurled herself into the quad, smiling to see the expertly manicured lawn picked out by the sliver moonlight and the few small lamps placed around so as to give enough light to help students back to their rooms. But before she could make much progress, Elizabeth noticed a group of boys rapidly following behind her, all of them dressed expensively in tailored tuxedos. She quickly pulled herself into the shadows so as to avoid them, not wanting to make small talk just at that moment.

"That was such an inspirational speech Zeldris," one of the young men gushed, obsequiousness dripping from him like oil. Elizabeth looked more carefully. The figure standing slightly in front of the group, back straight and head held high was indeed Zeldris Lorimer, his slight, lithe frame so like that of his brother, his hair sticking out in hard black spikes. Elizabeth was pleased she had chosen to hide. She'd run into Zeldris a couple of times over the course of the term and had not found the encounters enjoyable. He'd been brash and unpleasant, a nasty sneer permanently fixed to his face, though she had to admit it was probably a fair reaction in the circumstances. A number of her peers found him charismatic, alluring even she knew, suggesting his off-hand manner was for her rather than an habitual response.

"Perhaps your brother would join us next time, he's studying here is he not?" another voice chimed.

"Don't be ridiculous Fraudrin. He's not on our level," Zeldris snarled, and Elizabeth shrank back even further into the shadows to make sure of her safety, willing herself to make no noise as the group continued past her towards the college buildings. She froze in place when Zeldris paused mere meters away from her, cocking his head slightly to one side.

"You all go on ahead. I have some business to attend to here," Zeldris ordered, his voice ringing with authority. Elizabeth was surprised to see the others immediately comply with his instructions. They moved quickly to the staircase which led to the dorms, leaving Zeldris standing alone in the quad.

"You can come out now," Zeldris barked as he spun round to stare at the place where Elizabeth was hiding. "I know you're there and that you were listening."

Elizabeth unwillingly stepped out into the open, her face showing plainly her nervousness as her hand went to play with the scarf round her neck.

"Elizabeth Liones. If you want to hide I suggest you learn to control your breathing." Zeldris stared at her coldly, his raven eyes flashing with anger. "You want to explain what you were doing?"

"I... nothing. I just came back from my shift..."

"Don't lie to me! I saw you leaving my father's apartment and there's only one reason you'd be there at this hour. You've been stupid enough to let yourself become one of my brother's many conquests now he's back on the market. Even I would not have thought he'd be so desperate that he'd sleep with the enemy, though he evidently doesn't care about you enough to let you stay for the night." Zeldris snarled, his words sounding rich with the honey of pure loathing.

Elizabeth flushed up to the roots of her hair and her mouth fell open as she struggled to find her voice. She felt like she'd been slapped.

"It... it's not like that at all..." she flustered.

"Oh really? Your face says otherwise," Zeldris shot back.

"We were only talking." Elizabeth managed to squeak out.

"Just as well. I advise you not to get too attached. Meliodas will happily use you, as he has so many other women, but he will never do more for you than satisfy his own needs."

"I don't believe you," Elizabeth said coldly, her nervousness gone. "He's not like that at all."

"Seems you know more about my brother than you were letting on, or at least you think you do," Zeldris crowed triumphantly, a smirk spreading over his face. "Proof enough of your feelings. But did he tell you what he did to his ex?"

Elizabeth paused, a question about what Meliodas had done that was so bad was on the tip of her tongue, but she suppressed it. It was his secret to keep and she would not give his brother the satisfaction he was obviously craving. She returned Zeldris' gaze, her jaw clenched hard and her hands balled into fists at her sides, determined not to show him how much he frightened her.

"He threw her out. He got what he needed, then cast her aside with nothing to her name. They were talking marriage and children, and she thought everything was fine. But did he care? He'd had enough, so that was the end. That's what he does. Everything is always about him.

"Still, it was for the best. She was not good enough. She would never have held her own with my family. We used to laugh at her. Even Estarossa thought she was thick. The only reason father put up with her was her title, and you would be no different. I know all about you. Your grades are reasonable but you work like a dog for them. You have no verve, no genuine intellect. Without your family connections you would not be here at all. Oxford is for people with brains, not cart horses like you. For all his faults, Meliodas is brilliant. No one can hold a candle to him. How can you of all people ever hope to keep up? Once he's done with you physically, how could you possibly hope to hold his ever-wandering attention?"

Elizabeth felt herself flushing profusely, her face and neck flaming with uncomfortable heat as she gave into the urge and dropped her eyes to the floor. Try as she might, Zeldris' words were upsetting her deeply. She did her best to take even breaths of the cold December air in an attempt to control the adrenaline coursing through her. The last thing she wanted to do was burst into tears. But his words hurt. He was right, she wasn't that clever. She had enough intelligence to get by, but unlike her colleagues she had to study hard. She enjoyed the work, but it did not come naturally. The thing she liked about medicine was putting the patients at ease, helping them understand that she would do her best, building their trust and reaping the rewards when their health slowly recovered. She was not an academic and never would be.

"You will leave my brother alone if you know what's good for you," Zeldris warned quietly, taking a menacing step towards Elizabeth, seeming to tower over her despite his small stature as he pressed into her personal space. "If nothing else, do you know what my father would do to him if he found out about this? He hates Bartra Liones and will hate you just as much. And enjoyable as it would be to watch my brother get the discipline he deserves, I give you fair warning it will not be pleasant. If you know what's good for you both, you will stay away."

With that, Zeldris turned on his heels and strode purposefully towards the stairs, his movements beautifully fluid, arrogance rolling off him in waves. Elizabeth wished she could move just as gracefully, but she knew her limitations. She made sure Zeldris was out of sight before running, her movements as ever slightly inelegant as she mounted the worn stone stairs, taking them two at a time as tears streamed down her face. She couldn't see properly, and it took an awkward minute or so to locate the key in her handbag before she was finally fell through the door into the safety of her room, before lying on the bed and sobbing passionately.

She had been so happy, and now it was all gone. Part of her never wanted to see Meliodas again, but even as this thought crossed her mind, his clear green eyes and sweet, smiling face swam before her. She could not just give him up. And the way his brother had described him was not fair at all. She he'd seen for herself how much he cared for his friend, how careful and thoughtful he had been with Ban. Those were not the actions of a heartless monster who used people with no thought for their feelings. It must all be a lie. Besides, she had promised to check in on Ban the next day. He was her patient and she could hardly let him down. She would have to risk seeing Meliodas again.

* * *

The day had passed slowly. Ban has slept for most of it, but had woken for patches and been lucid, if halting in speech. Meliodas had sat by him as the sun had risen then fallen, trying to take the opportunity of enforced solitude to catch up on some reading. But he couldn't concentrate. He kept glancing up at the clock, wondering why the time was going so slowly and when Elizabeth might arrive. Every now and again, Ban woke up providing a merciful distraction and Meliodas managed to get him to drink water and take painkillers so that by the evening Ban was sitting up and behaving more or less like normal.

About an hour before, Meliodas had risked leaving the bedside to go and make Ban something to eat. When he'd returned with the tray, Ban had taken one look at the towering blackened monstrosity sat on the plate and turned green.

"What even is that?" Ban asked, and Meliodas was relieved to hear his friend's normal voice back in place.

"Lasagne, come on eat up!" Meliodas replied, grinning broadly.

"No way! Are you trying to poison me?" Ban spluttered back, experimentally poking the mess with a long finger. "I think it's alive! Why on earth didn't you make toast or something?"

"Yeah, about that, we're going to need a new toaster..." Meliodas grinned sheepishly.

"How can you possibly mess up making toast? No, don't tell me. I don't think I can take it," Ban groaned, head in hands. "But whatever, I'm not eating this, not even if pigs start talking."

Laughing, Meliodas was on the verge of pressing the point, feeling Ban deserved some payback for the previous twelve hours when a buzzing sound let him know that someone was waiting at the gate.

"Stay here," he ordered, grinning at Ban. "I'll be back, and this meal is not going anywhere except your stomach."

"I call your bluff," Ban said languidly, flopping back on the pillows. "It will be all over this room if you force feed me, and we both know you'll have to spend the next four hours cleaning if that happens..."

Moving to the front door, Meliodas checked the display of the video monitor, hoping this visitor was who he was expecting. He saw her beautiful eyes lowered to the ground, her hands playing with the buttons on her coat and instantly his insides turned to pudding. He had been hoping to see her, longing for it in fact, and now here she was and he was just a bundle of nerves.

He let Elizabeth in, walking out to the gate to meet her, a light drizzle covering his messy hair and grey cashmere sweater in fine water droplets. Elizabeth smiled in greeting, fingers now twisting the green scarf tied round her neck which she wore over a long white woolen coat. Meliodas caught himself staring wantonly at her slender legs as she stepped past him and he quickly shook his head in a panic. He had to stop looking at her like this. She would definitely catch him at it next time.

"Thanks for coming. He's much better now and we both owe you a proper apology," Meliodas said, willing his voice not to tremble. He led her into the apartment, helping her out of her coat once inside and his eyes trailed down to her bountiful chest. His breath caught in his throat as, once again, he forced his eyes up to hers, getting lost in the soft warmth of her smile as he did so.

Elizabeth felt a blush steal to her cheeks. She had seen the look in Meliodas' eyes as he had stared at her, noting the way his pupils had widened. She did not need any medical training to know the reason behind this and was practically paralysed by the elation and anxiety. She had allowed men to get close to her before, but even in the throes of passion they had never shown such obvious desire. She had always suspected their interest was in her family connections rather than for her as a person, and she felt relief that this could not be the case on this occasion. The man she was with was more privileged than she.

Meliodas led her into Ban's room and Elizabeth was pleased to see that he was sitting up and looking reasonably human. Meliodas had obviously got him into a clean t-shirt and somehow made him shower. He looked perfectly presentable.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Elizabeth said, smiling brightly. "Here, I brought this," she continued, pulling a flask out of the cloth bag she carried over her shoulder. "I snuck this out of the canteen."

"Thank you so much!" Ban enthused, opening the flask up. "Chicken soup is my favourite and you've saved me from that..." Ban looked darkly at the monstrosity on the tray.

Elizabeth also looked at the plate, raising her eyebrows. "What is it?" she asked. "It's not edible surely..."

"This is so insulting. It's lasagne, it's not going to kill anyone!" Meliodas laughed.

"Actually it might," Elizabeth said, giggling back as she cut into it. She wrinkled her nose slightly as something puss-coloured oozed out. "I think it's raw in the middle."

"How can it be, it's burned to a crisp!" Ban said, incredulous.

"Fine. You both win. I'll get rid of this and fetch you a bowl," Meliodas said, gracefully lifting the tray and heading upstairs to the kitchen.

"Thank you!" Ban sighed to Elizabeth when they were alone. "There was no way I could have survived that."

"How are you feeling?" Elizabeth asked. "You were in a pretty bad shape last night."

"Not too bad. A bit fragile," Ban smiled, leaning back to rest on the headboard.

"Um... if you don't mind me saying so, I was wondering if that was the first time something like that had happened?" Ban looked keenly at Elizabeth as she nervously played with the beading round the cuffs of her blouse. "I think I've seen you before, at the Jesus College bar? You drink like this quite regularly..."

"So what if I do?" Ban sang back, and Elizabeth was relieved there was no rancour in his voice, only boredom. "It's none of your business."

"That's true, and I did think about whether I should say anything. Obviously I don't know if it's a problem or not. But I'm training to be a doctor. You're not immortal so I thought I had to say something. It wouldn't be right for me to just let you damage your health," Elizabeth stuttered, blood rising in her cheeks as she forced the words out.

"And... um, Meliodas would be really upset if anything were to happen to you. He said last night you mean everything to him."

Ban looked at her, his eyes steady and unreadable, before a sad smile crossed his face. "Maybe you're right," he conceded. "It is why my girlfriend chucked me out. She said if I was going to be a drunk I should at least be a merry one, and I wasn't. I was getting pretty morose."

"There are support groups who can help. I work for Nightline, I can give you some contacts if you'd like."

"I'll think about it," Ban said, after a pause, his eyes looking down at the bedsheets and Elizabeth wondered how she could break the silence between them.

With a breezy smile, Meliodas came back through the door carrying another tray, this time with an empty bowl, half a baguette and some butter. He set it down before Ban and turned to Elizabeth.

"Look, I didn't get to show you round yesterday. Would you like a tour?"

Meliodas grabbed her hand in response to her eager nod and pulled her out of the room, watched by Ban's curious eyes. He'd never seen Meliodas act like this with a woman before. Random touching was not something he did, and wondered what Elizabeth had been up to last night to get his friend in such a state.

Meliodas led Elizabeth up the stairs into the living area above and she gasped as she took in the luxury of it. The room was enormous, taking up all of the first floor, one long wall completely composed of ceiling to floor windows affording a panoramic view of the city. It must be amazing to watch the sun rise from here, Elizabeth thought, you would be able to see all of the most ancient university buildings. The marble-tiled floor gleamed, showing off the cow skin rugs and Art Deco furniture, with two large white leather sofas and a walnut coffee table taking up most of one corner to form a contained space for relaxation. The kitchen was straight in front and Elizabeth ran over to look at it, marvelling at the polished green slate of the worktop and the cream gloss cabinets. A bar was draped round it, the glass countertop shining brightly. The effect was stunning.

"What do you think?" Meliodas asked, beaming.

"This is wonderful. It looks immaculate!" Elizabeth was fairly tidy herself, but not to this level.

"I take care of that myself," Meliodas said proudly. "I'm pretty good at keeping the place clean, however much of challenge Ban gives me."

In response to her assent, Meliodas moved over to the kitchen area to make tea while Elizabeth took a closer look round. The effect of the room was beautiful, but definitely not cozy. Her Greenwich home was a mess of comfortable, worn old furniture, not aesthetically pleasing perhaps but inviting and useable. This looked more like a show home than where someone would live and in the moment, Elizabeth was not entirely sure which style she preferred.

Walking up to the bar, Elizabeth got up on a stool to sip the tea placed in front of her. "How long have you lived here?" she asked as Meliodas took the stool next to her.

"Since my second year. My father bought this place a while back on the assumption my brothers and I would all go to Oxford. I normally don't let him tell me what to do but I was happy come here. My supervisor is amazing. I'd read all her books and decided I wanted to study with her. She interviewed me actually. I was so star struck I thought for sure I'd made a mess of it." Meliodas chuckled at the memory.

"How about you, what made you choose this place?"

Elizabeth felt herself blushing again. She hated lying, but she could hardly tell Meliodas the truth.

"The medical programme is pretty good. I've always wanted to be a doctor. My mum... she was quite ill when I was a child. I felt so bad that I couldn't make her feel better so I decided I'd do what I could to help other people instead."

Before he knew what he was doing Meliodas had stretched his hand out to cup Elizabeth's face, weaving his fingers lightly into the strands of hair that fell down past her cheek. What was going on with him? He was never normally this forward until he was absolutely sure his attentions were welcome, and as he felt Elizabeth stiffen beside him, he knew his involuntary action had been a mistake.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, withdrawing his hand as quickly as he dared. "It's hard to watch someone you care for in pain. My mother was weak too towards the end."

His mother's last pregnancy had not been easy on her. She had been older when his father had pressed her to have their third child, and slightly unwilling to try and experiment. As the pregnancy progressed, his mother had developed a number of complications including hyperemesis which had kept her bed bound for months, an ugly drip feeding into her arm. Meliodas had done his best to keep the household in order, determined that when his mother got better she would be pleased with the state of their home. He had tidied and cleaned, keeping Estarossa's messes in check as his little brother played, mercifully oblivious to the difficulties the family were facing. His father had been worse than useless, luxuriating in the misery of his wife's condition rather than trying to care of his children. Meliodas had quickly taken on the role of parent, making sure Estarossa was properly fed and kept as happy as circumstances allowed.

Then as the due date approached, Meliodas had begun to let himself relax. His mother had recovered quite a bit, and was nearly back to her old self. And then it had happened. Placental abruption, a killer that came without reason or warning. Meliodas had walked in to find his mother sobbing in the bathroom, a puddle of blood round her legs where she lay. She had known the danger she and Zeldris were facing. He had called the ambulance, and watched from an upstairs window as she was whisked away, no one bothering to check how he was. He had lost his mother, and as a cruel joke had been handed a tiny infant as if in compensation. And Zeldris had been such a miserable baby, crying all hours of the day and night. Not surprising now Meliodas thought about it. No one had ever thought to try and comfort him, not even the nannies who were hired for the purpose. They made sure Zeldris was fed and safe, but did not show him real love.

And how he had hated his youngest brother. Every time he saw him he had felt the full force of his anger, blaming the little thing for his mother's death. He had been vile, pinching the baby when no one was looking, then breaking his toys as he grew older, Estarossa as always following his lead. And then finally, the ultimate punishment, realising the physical abuse could no longer continue, he had withdrawn completely from Zeldris, refusing to have anything to do with the toddler. On the occasions they were forced to be in the same room, he had belittled him, scolded him, been downright unpleasant. He had done everything he could to make his brother aware that he was not welcome.

After many years, Meliodas had come to sincerely regret his behaviour, realising that his brother was completely blameless for what had happened, that he might even had died too. But by then it was too late. Zeldris, not unreasonably, wanted nothing to do with him and refused all his clumsy attempts to try and make amends. It had got to the point where Meliodas felt instant sadness and guilt whenever he saw his youngest brother who was a constant reminder of how cruel he could be. The pair of them bickered, the habit of their childhood stretching into today, neither of them able to change the pattern of their interactions.

Seeing his unspoken sadness, Elizabeth unthinkingly wrapped her arms around Meliodas' neck, pulling him close to her. She blushed again, deeply, as she realised what she was doing. She had been so nervous before. What on earth was motivating her actions? But as the seconds ticked by and her heart beat with excitement she became increasingly sure that she was right to be holding this man in her arms.

Elizabeth could feel Meliodas' breathing change as she held him more tightly and knew for certain that he must feel the same thing, her thoughts proven right as he returned her embrace. Meliodas sighed with relief, eagerly relaxing into Elizabeth's hold, delighted that her earlier hesitation was apparently nerves rather than a deeper reluctance. He moved his hand up to hold the back of her head, losing himself in the silken feel of her locks as they slipped through his fingers, pulling her in closer. Elizabeth responded, tilting her head towards him, gently brushing his lips with her own. Sparks flew though his veins as he slowly and tenderly returned her kiss, losing himself in the soft feel of her mouth. Of all the times he had been with women like this, he could never remember feeling so utterly contented.

"I knew you were both up to something," the sneering voice sounded from the other end of the room. Elizabeth and Meliodas instantly broke apart to stare dumbfounded at Zeldris who was standing rigid at the top of the stairs.

Meliodas had to work extremely hard to keep his temper in check, but somehow managed to force his face into a stony, rather than livid expression. He was incredibly angry, but had no desire to let Elizabeth see. He determined to make sure to get the apartment key off his youngest brother and give him the sharp rebuke he deserved once she had gone.

"Before you go any further, I have some information which should interest you," Zeldris said coldly as he looked at his brother, his eyes radiating quiet triumph. "After all, it's not a good idea to get too close to people like her."

"What are you talking about?" Meliodas snarled, his arm still round Elizabeth, his fingers digging slightly into her side.

"It's simple really. Since our meeting yesterday, I've made some enquiries," Zeldris purred as he turned to Elizabeth. "I tracked down an old school friend of yours and she told me some interesting things about what you would get up to in the computer lab in your spare time. Do you want to tell Meliodas or shall I?"

Elizabeth felt the blush firing all over her face and neck as she stared down at the floor, and she blinked her eyes furiously as she felt Meliodas' arm pull away from her slightly. She opened her mouth, trying to speak but she could not get the words out. How could she even begin to explain?

"She been following you for years," Zeldris said, his eyes flashing with joyous amusement. "Every spare moment she cyber stalked you, and anyone close to you. She's been spying on you since she was, what? About fifteen years old? You're the reason she came to Oxford in the first place, so she could hunt you down. Is that not so, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth looked at Meliodas who was staring at her, his apprehension clearly etched on his face, the playful humour she loved so much nowhere to be seen. His eyes showed plainly his hesitation. How had she ever let things get this far?

Unable to take the shame or Zeldris' glowering stare, Elizabeth ran down the steps at top speed, grabbing her coat and slamming the door behind her.

"How dare you!" Meliodas yelled at his brother, his reason finally returning after the initial shock of the revelation. "What does it matter what's she's done in the past? Everyone does stupid things when they're a teenager. Why the fuck can't you just stay out of my life?" he fumed as he jumped off the bar stool and stalked towards Zeldris, his face a picture of absolute fury.

Zeldris stared at him, and Meliodas was surprised to see his brother looking not angry but confused.

"I'm doing you a favour!" Zeldris protested as a wave of hurt flashed across his features. "You do know who she is, don't you? Do you have any idea what father will do if he finds out about this? I tried warning her off, and that didn't work. Fuck knows why. I could not have been clearer. I thought you might have the wit to be less obtuse."

"Get out. Now! Before I say something I regret. And if I find out you've been anywhere near Elizabeth again I will make you pay." Meliodas snarled, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Fine! On your own head be it, what do I care!" Zeldris shouted as he turned and stomped back down stairs. Meliodas watched him, feeling his anger cool to agitation as he realised that, for some reason, Zeldris must have expected a different reaction.


	4. As Life Unravels

**Chapter 4: As Life Unravels**

"I'm disappointed with you. You're writing is never usually this pedestrian. Is this truly what you have spent the last six weeks working on?" Merlin scolded, her red-painted lips pressed close together in her hard, thin face.

Meliodas looked down at the carpeted floor, focusing on the swirling patterns by way of distraction, not at all enjoying the cold chastisement in his supervisor's piercing, amber eyes. He had found the chapter so difficult to set down, feeling that even getting a first draft completed was a massive achievement. He'd actually indulged himself with a whole day off after emailing it to Merlin to reward this accomplishment, but not so deep down he had known it was rather poor. Still, Merlin's reaction had taken him a bit by surprise. They had worked together for years and she was usually quietly encouraging.

Writing up his model results had been an absolute breeze. Getting his qualitative data into something resembling good scholarship was however troubling him greatly. He had carried out sixty interviews with tax inspectors across the country and the amount of data to analyse was daunting. There were hours of transcribed conversations spread over Word documents, a huge Excel spreadsheet, and scattered around his desk on yellow post-it notes, some of them pasted into notebooks to keep the thematic analysis together. It was hard to know how to organise it all neatly. And then of course there was the fact that he had more teaching work than he could ever hope to contend with and that concentration was impossible because his personal life was falling apart.

Meliodas had tried and failed to contact Elizabeth over the holidays. All he wanted was her side of the story and to let her know that he did not think any differently of her because of her past. But for whatever reason she would not explain, would not even acknowledge his attempts to reach out. He had emailed her, cursing himself for not getting her number, and had spent days continually refreshing his inbox, feeling disappointment each time there was no reply. The Christmas break had come and gone but the passage of time had only made him more desperate to see her, and more despondent as the dream looked increasingly impossible.

"This is not the point of research," Merlin admonished, her thin fingers held together in a steeple as she sat opposite him in one of the two, large uncomfortable chairs she used for supervisions. "You've just described your data, you haven't analysed it."

"I know," Meliodas groaned, raising his head to tentatively risk eye contact. "I just found this thing so hard to write." He had worked on the draft all through the holidays, returning to Oxford as soon as he could and practically living in the office to try and make some progress. Ban had stuck around too, and together they had both done their best to get on top of their work.

Merlin's expression softened slightly, the corner of her mouth curling up into a lopsided smile. "I had a chat with Arthur, and you're off the hook. He said writing up qualitative results is challenging at first, but gets easier with practice. My advice would be to stick to experiments next time. They're far more satisfying."

Meliodas felt a depth of gratitude to Arthur Pendragon. Merlin's postdoctoral fellow had worked with her for years, although his youthful appearance gave a different impression. He did all the work Merlin had no interest in and wrote up all her research. Merlin loved collecting data and conducting behavioural experiments in Oxford's purpose built lab, but once she knew the answer that was enough for her. The academic publishing process, where papers were drafted and re-drafted after many rounds of comments, bored her considerably and she could not stand the criticism from anonymous reviewers.

Arthur put considerable effort into smoothing over any hostility Merlin felt and made the adjustments needed to get her research into world-renowned journals. Merlin consistently achieved top ratings as an academic researcher in consequence, securing her future with the university and giving her the freedom to do as she pleased. This process took up a lot of time and Arthur had necessarily sacrificed many of his own avenues of enquiry, though Merlin did give him as much space as she could to pursue his own interests. Although not relishing the limelight, Arthur was a superb researcher and if even he found writing up difficult then there was no reason anyone else should find it to be easy.

"You need to do more with your data, think about creating typologies and linking it to theory," Merlin explained more kindly, her usual twinkle back in her eye. "Have another go. Re-write this one completely. Arthur said you could go to him for advice if you wish."

Meliodas sighed. He supposed he'd got off lightly but his supervisor's words still cut into him. That meant literally none of the chapter was salvageable. The thought of the weeks of work wasted rankled and he gave a slight grimace as he stood to take his leave.

"Before you go I want you to tell me something," Merlin demanded, her lips pursed up in apparent distaste. "You have taken on a considerable amount of private tuition work lately. Please explain."

Meliodas stared at his supervisor with complete incredulity. In all the years he had known her, Merlin had not once asked him any personal questions, presumably because she had managed to find out everything she needed to know through other channels. He had obviously managed to surprise her for once.

"Thought I'd earn a bit of extra cash," Meliodas said with a grin. "You never know when it might come in handy."

After Zeldris' outburst Meliodas had taken a good look at his life and realised that his brother might have a point. His father would be furious if he and Elizabeth ever got together, so if he wanted her in his life he needed to cut ties completely and stop living rent-free under his father's roof. His income was just about enough to find a room for himself as long as he pulled back sharply on other areas of expenditure, but that was without thinking of Ban. Private tuition had seemed a good solution to the problem, but his students all expected tailored lesson plans. This took up a lot more time than he'd bargained for.

Merlin looked at him carefully, her bright eyes boring into him as if seeing all the way through to his soul. "I can tell something is going on. My advice is, sort it out. It is evidently getting in the way of your work. No student of mine has yet failed and I do not want you to be the first. You have the potential to be a good academic. Make sure you stay on track."

Relieved to escape Merlin's office, Meliodas practically fled from the college, hustling down the stone stairs, through the quad and out into Turl Street. Merlin was right he thought as he turned left to head up towards Balliol. If Elizabeth would not answer him then he would just have to find her and see if there was something he could do to make things work out. Balliol was not far from Jesus College and after taking a few eager paces down Broadway, Meliodas was striding through the college's enormous quad towards the junior common room. He did not necessarily expect to see Elizabeth there but someone was bound to be hanging around who would know which staircase she lived on.

As Meliodas entered he saw the back of a familiar dark, spiky head straight in front of him and he quickly pulled into a convenient alcove to hide. Just his luck. Of all the people who he could have run into it would obviously have to be his youngest brother. He had avoided Zeldris completely over Christmas, deciding that ignoring him was the best punishment he had in his limited arsenal. They had not spoken since the day he had last seen Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry, I honestly didn't mean to upset you," Zeldris pleaded, the anguish in his voice clear. Meliodas' eyebrows shot up in amazement. He had never heard his brother use that tone or those words with anyone before and he leaned his head as close to the opening of the alcove as he dared in order to listen more keenly.

"You used me!" a harsh, cut-glass voice replied, the female speaker's anger perfectly evident. "You didn't care about me at all, you just wanted to humiliate my friend."

"That's not true!" Zeldris protested. "I did want information at first, but... Gelda please listen! I've gone about this all wrong, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you. I adore you. Please, believe me."

"How can I? Elizabeth is so upset. How could you possibly have said all those disgusting things to her? It's like I don't know you at all. I don't want anything more to do with you."

Meliodas almost stopped breathing at this. So this girl was the source Zeldris had mentioned and she had evidently been an unwitting pawn in his brother's game. This was useful. The girl would probably help him get in touch with Elizabeth. He just needed to get her alone somehow.

"I'm sorry. You're right, I was horrible to her. I just wanted to put her off, that's all. I was a bit drunk and... it seemed like the best way to do it at the time. I find that kind of attack is effective if you want people do what they're told without asking questions. And it worked. It seems they've stayed away from each other."

"But why? Why shouldn't Elizabeth go out with your brother? She's a wonderful person," Gelda retorted, her voice trembling with anger and Meliodas heard a slight tint to her accent around the crisp tone. She sounded almost too English, too polished and he suspected she had learned her elocution in school.

"That makes no difference! Look, my father thinks Bartra Liones ruined his career. He didn't of course. I've watched that debate so many times, and it's painful. Liones' arguments were nothing special, any competent politician should have been able to counter them. But my father just floundered. I didn't understand why for years but... he has issues. He's not strong mentally. If he found out Meliodas was keen on Liones' daughter he would be in very real danger of doing something he shouldn't.

"I've never told anyone this," Zeldris responded to Gelda's silent but obvious rebuke. "The night after that debate we all went to the London flat. Meliodas sent me up to bed and he made Estarossa go with me too. I was so cross with him, I thought he was being mean so I pretended to go to sleep. My plan was to sneak back down once Estarossa left me and make them include me for once. Father and Meliodas had an argument. It was so loud. I didn't want to listen, not after a bit anyway, but I heard everything. It was horrendous. I wasn't sure at the time but the more I think about it, I think... I think my father tried to kill Meliodas."

"What?" Gelda gasped. "Are you sure?"

"No, not completely. I heard father yelling, really laying into him. It was so horrible. But there was a silent bit, it was so strange coming in among all the shouting, and then the next day Meliodas had this bruise round his neck...

"I just wanted Elizabeth to stop," Zeldris whispered brokenly, and Meliodas had to strain his ears to try and catch the confession. "I didn't want... I don't know. You see, father is so angry with Meliodas. He's not so bothered that Estarossa never listens to him, he's not parliamentary material, but Meliodas is different. My father really wanted him to be the one to take his place in the party. He can't have that now of course and it makes him furious. I do my best to keep him happy so he doesn't go over the edge, but if he found out about Elizabeth, I honestly don't know what he'd do. Meliodas has always been defiant, I knew he wouldn't listen unless I... I know he hates me but I don't want him to get hurt." Zeldris paused, and behind the alcove his brother buried his face in his hands, upset that he had failed to hide his father's vile temper from his youngest brother.

That night had not been the first time his father had used unorthodox methods to try and control him, though usually he was careful not to leave physical signs of the abuse. Lord Lorimer was not generally violent, but there were other means at his disposal. Many times, Meliodas had been locked in his father's study, deprived of food and water for the day, with nothing but the books for company. Estarossa had sometimes managed to sneak him food though the window, but Meliodas had discouraged this, frightened of what would happen if his brother was caught. It had been a relief when they had both been sent off to boarding school. Estarossa had been young, and Meliodas had done his best to try and get him to forget what had happened, downplaying the extent to which the experience had affected him.

As time had gone on, Meliodas had learned the tricks he needed to keep his father from losing it too badly on the rare occasions he was forced to be at home. He had deliberately sought out friends who would let him stay with them for portions of the holidays and had tried to get both his brothers to do the same. He had thought he had successfully hidden everything from the youngest, who his father never hurt. He was glad of this of course, but he had to admit the blatant favouritism had rankled. He hadn't realised Zeldris had merely developed his own techniques to ensure his father did not lose it too badly, that his brother knew about the monster lurking under the polished facade.

Meliodas risked sneaking a look round the pillar of the alcove. He saw the profile of a woman with a long, blonde braid running down her right shoulder gazing intently at his brother, her hand tentatively reaching out to his face. Zeldris instantly leant into her touch and Meliodas quickly ducked back into his hiding place, feeling acute shame for spying on his brother at such a moment.

"I should have told you," Zeldris murmured, his voice sounding more muffled. Evidently the girl had forgiven him enough to embrace him. "And I'm sorry about Elizabeth, I really am."

"You will apologise," Gelda said cooly. "But, I do understand. My father's terrible too, though not quite as awful as that," Gelda added more softly. "That's why I didn't ask you to come with me for Christmas. He's going to be livid when he finds out about us. He wants me to marry someone from back home."

"I don't want to get you into trouble," Zeldris said, his voice laced with anxiety.

"It's fine. I don't plan on telling him until we can move in together. Then he can rant and rave all he wants. I don't care if I never see him again," Gelda said, defiance ringing in her clear voice. "I won't let him get in the way."

"Hey, it's okay," Gelda said softly. Just tell me next time there's something wrong. There's always a better way to sort things out than insulting people."

"I missed you. I don't want to lose you," Zeldris begged, desperation trembling though every word.

"You won't, I promise. I love you."

Meliodas wondered if there was any way he could sneak out of the room without being spotted. From the sounds of things, the two of them were taking the opportunity to make up properly, and he really wanted to leave before things got yet more embarrassing.

"Come on, let's go. We need somewhere private for this," Gelda sighed softly, and Meliodas was grateful to hear the door at the other end of the room squeak on its hinges a few moments later. The couple had thankfully taken the route into the college buildings rather than heading past him out to the quad. He considered staying around a bit longer but decided against it. Gelda was not a common name and he was sure he would be able to find her without too much effort.

Stepping quickly back through the quad, Meliodas made his way to George Street and back towards the apartment. In typical January fashion, the cold rain had started to fall and Meliodas ran most of the way home to avoid the worst of the downpour, sprinting over the canal as water droplets splashed hard on its surface.

"Hi Ban, you there?" Meliodas called as cheerfully as he could once he'd made his way into the warmth of the apartment, shaking off the rain from his coat before heading further inside. Hearing no response, Meliodas started up the stairs when he noticed a slither of light coming from the crack under Ban's bedroom door. That was odd. Ban was usually pretty good about turning the lights off when he did not need them, the habit of poverty guiding his actions even though he no longer had to worry about paying the bills.

Meliodas cautiously opened the door and was astonished to find Ban lying stretched out on the bed, his eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling and an expression of absolute despair on his haggard face.

"What's happened?" Meliodas asked softly, stepping closer to the bed, noticing that Ban had a brown bottle of something clutched in his hand.

Ban laid still, saying nothing and Meliodas knew he would have to force the issue. It was all very well respecting people's secrets but he could hardly leave Ban in this state. Whatever it was he needed to talk about it.

"It's Elaine, isn't it?" Meliodas guessed, thinking back to the times he had seen Ban wear this expression. Elaine was never far from Ban's thoughts. Even after all these months he still missed her fiercely and had tried unsuccessfully to get back in her good books on a number of occasions.

"She's pregnant," Ban rasped out, his voice scraping like gravel and his eyes growing wet round the edges with tears. "I went to see her when I found out. It's mine, but she won't take me back. She doesn't want me to have anything to do with the baby..."

At this, the tears fell down Ban's cheek and he moved his arm up to cover his eyes. Gently, Meliodas reached out to take the empty bottle from his other hand and set it down on the bedside table.

"Did she say why?" Meliodas questioned, keeping his voice as sympathetic as he could. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Ban further. Ban was usually quite easy-going, and enjoyed a good tease, but when he was in one of these moods he needed handling with kid gloves.

"She said I wasn't ready for a proper relationship, that I was being self-indulgent and should get a real job," Ban gulped, evidently trying to suppress the still flowing tears.

"This is a real job," Meliodas grumbled irately. "It's hard enough work anyway."

"It is for you, you have funding and your thesis is going to save the country, right? No one's paying me, and what I'm doing is not important, that's what the research councils think anyway. But whatever they say, it's really important to me."

"What is your research question exactly? Are you ready to tell me? I know it's got something to do with higher education."

"I'm looking at how universities pick their students and what impact that has on people from backgrounds like mine. It was a lifeline for me getting to study here, but it was damn hard. I want to see what can be done to make things a bit fairer," Ban fluted, his old manner returning for a spell.

"Sounds noble enough to me," Meliodas concluded. "Higher education is key for social mobility."

"Well, Elaine doesn't see it that way. Or rather she does I guess, she just wants me to grow up. And she has a point. I'm twenty-three, I should have a salary by now. That's why I came to Oxford in the first place, to get out of the gutter."

"So we need to get you funding, should be doable. The university has plenty of scholarships, we just to figure out how to get you one of them," Meliodas said bracingly, hoping Ban would buck up if he had something concrete to try.

"In the meantime you can help me out with all this tuition work. I've taken on way more than I can cope with and I've got students queuing up for help. It's an easy ask, just basic stats and research methods and the pay is really good. We'll be out of this place in no time, living on our own with our own money. That will show Elaine you mean business."

"What's the point," Ban moaned. "It's over."

"Stop it! It will be if you keep up that attitude. You want her, you fight for her." Meliodas stared at Ban, willing his friend to listen and to do what he said.

"Come on, let's get a drink," Meliodas suggested kindly as Ban gave a slight nod, relieved that the melancholy was on hold for the evening at least. "I need one after the day I've had."

* * *

The ground crunched satisfyingly underfoot as Meliodas stepped lightly along the Broad Walk which ran through the frosty green of Christ Church Meadow. As he reached the river, he gazed at the skeletons of deciduous trees which lined the Cherwell, their bare branches glowing pink and gold in the early morning light. The view was sublime, but the red hue in the sky promised the presence of rain later in the day. It would be February soon, the worst month of the year, but at least it meant that spring was not too far away.

He and Ban had searched for suitable scholarships and hardship funds for a couple of days, scouring the internet for hours to try and find something Ban could feasibly apply for. Irritatingly, many of the more generous options were out of reach because, despite his hard background, Ban technically had somewhere to live and a bit of an income, however slight. This had set Ban off on a rant about the lack of equity in the funding system, which had encouraged him to reveal more information about his mysterious thesis. Ban was not only looking at university admissions, but also at the marketing techniques institutions used to attract different students. His theory was that universities deliberately sought to appeal to well-healed learners while discouraging those from less salubrious backgrounds.

Still, it was all over now. Eventually he and Ban had found a possible fund and had roped Arthur in to help with the application. The three of them had drafted the case together, focusing in on the complex modelling Ban had planned, and that fact that he had secured university admissions data no one else had access to. Ban would be certain to make an original contribution to knowledge.

And wonderfully, Gelda had finally agreed to meet him, selecting this beauty spot for the purpose. It was a popular place, but deserted at this time in the morning, meaning they would be able to talk without being dogged by college gossip. Waking up early after a restless night's sleep, Meliodas had felt uneasy, on edge. But the cold air was helping, as was the gentle sound of the river lapping against its banks and the sweet song of the birds as they welcomed the day.

He heard a scrunch on the icy dirt track behind him and he turned to see Gelda, the familiar golden braid falling over her shoulder and her slender hips swaying slightly with her gait. She stopped dead in her tracks on seeing him, her sweet, heart-shaped face instantly hardening as her eyes met his.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet me," Meliodas began, forcing the words to come despite his fraying nerves. His brother's girlfriend was obviously not pleased to see him.

"I wanted to give you a piece of my mind," Gelda retorted, her voice as cold as the frost on the ground. "And to tell you in person that there is no way I will allow you to get close to Elizabeth. You stay away from her."

"Why?" Meliodas asked incredulously. What had happened to make Gelda feel like this? The conversation he had heard had led him to believe she would help him, not put obstacles in his way.

"Elizabeth is very sensitive, she trusts easily and I will not let her be hurt by someone like you," Gelda shot back, her voice steady and commanding.

"What are you talking about? I would never hurt her!" Meliodas cried out, his confusion growing as he examined Gelda's expression. Why was she so angry?

"Oh, really? Because you're so nice? Because you'd never systematically abuse someone close to you?" Gelda stared at Meliodas, her striking turquoise eyes flashing with fire. All at once, Meliodas felt his building anger die and his face flush with shame. He knew then exactly what Gelda was talking about.

"Look, I have tried to apologise," Meliodas murmured, forcing his eyes to keep contact with hers. "I really have. You're right, I have behaved badly, and I want to make it up to him but he won't let me."

"Do you have any idea how much you've hurt him?" Gelda seethed as her unwavering eyes returned his gaze. "Zeldris told me all about it. It took a lot of work but I got it out of him. I have never seen him so upset and I hope I never do again. And you wonder why he won't forgive you? You don't deserve it. You don't deserve him!"

"I did things I shouldn't have done when we were younger, but I stopped. I haven't done anything to hurt him for years." Meliodas sighed, breathing deep to try and assuage his emotions.

"You stopped the physical stuff. So what? Do you know what upsets him most? That you constantly belittle him. He idolises you and all you ever do is ignore him or put him down. And your condescension is completely unjustified. Have you any concept of how brilliant he is?"

"What are you talking about? He hates me!" Meliodas spluttered out, his hands clenched at his sides, his knuckles white with the pressure. "I understand why, he has every right to, but he doesn't care in the least what I think about him."

"He _wants_ to hate you certainly, but he doesn't, even after all you have done. He just wants your approval and your recognition." Gelda looked at Meliodas more gently, her expression pleading. "Why can't you just give it to him?"

"I... but I do." Meliodas protested. "I don't agree with most of what he says, but I respect his ability. He's far more driven than I could ever be."

"He wants more than that. He wants you to show him a bit of understanding and respect. Is that too much to ask?"

"No... no it isn't," Meliodas muttered. He rubbed his left eye with his fist, enjoying the pain this action brought. "I just... I thought he wanted nothing to do with me, and then of course we're just so different politically."

"Does that make a difference? Elizabeth and I don't agree either, but do you think that makes me care about her any less? She's sweet and kind and I love her to pieces, even if her policy ideas are mad." Meliodas chuckled at this and Gelda's frozen features thawed slightly, but she still kept her keen eyes fixed hard on him.

"If you want to apologise, just flatter him a bit," Gelda advised, her shoulders dropping ever so slightly. Being in your shadow and your behaviour has knocked his confidence. He hides it well, but he needs approbation, from you anyway."

"If you say so, I can't see it myself," Meliodas replied. "But, I'll try what you suggest. Goodness knows nothing else has worked," he added quietly. "He'll just brush me off I expect, like he always does."

"He won't, trust me," Gelda replied, shivering suddenly as the promised rain started to fall. In silent agreement, she and Meliodas turned and started to walk quickly back up the Broad Walk towards Merton College, the route which would take them back to the city centre. Meliodas unfurled an umbrella, offering to share its shelter as the rain picked up pace, battering the nylon fabric stretched over their heads.

"Look, I know you're cross with me, but I want you to know I'm glad Zeldris has you in his corner. I know you care about him." Meliodas risked a sideways look at Gelda and was rewarded with a small, careful smile.

They walked in silence through the park, each lost in their own thoughts and the effort of angling their bodies so as to avoid getting soaked. Finally Gelda spoke, her clear voice rising above the pattering droplets.

"I won't say anything to Elizabeth. She has the right to make up her own mind. Just promise me you'll tell her the truth when you see her."

"I will, I promise," Meliodas replied as they made their way through the black gates of Logic Lane and so up to the High Street just as the shops started to open their shutters, the rasping noise showing the owners were ready to start the day's trade.


	5. February Fifth

**Chapter 5: February Fifth**

Mist swirled over the frost-coated ground as Meliodas and Estarossa made their way towards Lorimer Hall, driving smoothly along the narrow lanes of the Lancashire countryside. Meliodas felt restless and miserable. Visiting their father was bad enough, but the tradition of going with him to the picturesque flint-walled church where their mother was buried was trying his nerves, especially as Estarossa seemed unreasonably chipper about something when he should have been falling in line with his mood. His brother was indeed being extremely annoying, a lazy smile permanently fixed to his face. Unusually, Meliodas had not even needed to drag the younger out of bed so they could make good time. Estarossa had practically bundled him into the car.

Meliodas had spent the previous night in Estarossa's Bloomsbury flat, grateful to his brother for suggesting they head together to the mansion where their father was waiting, even if it meant going south in order to head north. Estarossa had used his savings to buy a small car, a luxury in London but one which was proving useful now. And he could afford it. Since Christmas, Estarossa had been telling anyone who would listen about the size of the bonus he'd received in recognition for his skill on the trading floor. It purportedly had many zeros in it, and Meliodas wondered why this second-hand vehicle was his only notable indulgence thus far. Estarossa generally liked spending money.

"It's absolutely freezing!" Estarossa moaned, his languid eyes fixed on the road. "Turn the heating up would you?"

Meliodas complied, making sure his face did not show his feelings too plainly. He hated this journey under any circumstances, but his failures of the last two weeks were not helping his mood. He had not managed to speak to Elizabeth, and had made absolutely no progress with his chapter, although he had enjoyed ripping up the post-it notes. If he had to do the analysis all over again, he would at least take some pleasure from the destruction. The only bit of good news was that he, Ban and Arthur had finished the funding application and sent it off, squeaking it in just before the deadline. Ban should find out if he was successful quite soon.

"I spoke to Mela yesterday. D'you know Zeldris actually asked father if he could bring a girl with him?" Estarossa smirked, his dark eyes flashing with mischief.

"I know he's seeing someone. What else did Mela tell you?" Meliodas asked. He did not much like Melascyla, who he suspected harboured a vicious streak for all her girlish demeanour, but whatever her faults their father's secretary was notoriously good at sniffing out secrets. She would certainly have the gossip on Gelda if there was anything interesting to know.

"You never tell me these things! Well, father is furious. The girl's family are from Romania and he's worried her background will upset some of the party, especially with all the post-Brexit sentiment sloshing around. He's determined to make Zeldris finish with her."

"What? He can't!" Meliodas cried. "Zeldris adores her."

"Well then, he'll have to disobey his orders for once," Estarossa observed haughtily, his lips curled in a cruel smile.

"Listen, I think we've both been too hard on him, me mostly. Can we just back off a bit, please?"

"You were the one who was cross with him!" Estarossa complained. "He ruined your love life remember? You talked of nothing else all through Christmas."

"That doesn't mean father should get to ruin his in return, and it doesn't make any sense anyway. Gelda won't harm him politically," Meliodas replied, his fingers curling over his knees.

The explosion of xenophobia and racism which had happened last summer had left its scarring mark on the nation. It was true that public were now more willing to voice their horrible prejudice than they had been before the referendum, and that an ugly anti-European sentiment had made itself felt on the street and in the pages of some of the more trashy newspapers. But it had calmed down quite a bit since the new year, or at least the coverage of it had. And then a number of successful politicians had European partners, including one of the leading lights of the pro-Brexit movement. There was no way Gelda would compromise Zeldris' electoral chances. Given her looks, the press were bound to be be more interested in what she was wearing than where she was from.

"So, you tell me about her. That's all I have, apart from the fact that she's only grammar school educated."

"So? What's the matter with grammar schools now? The party are in favour of them." Meliodas was confused. Grammar schools were free to attend but selected pupils based on academic ability. They were some of the highest-achieving institutions in the country, with many of their pupils going to the best universities.

"They are, but father's taken umbrage apparently. He's found out about you and Deldry, and now you're not marrying into the nobility anymore he's fixed his sights on Zeldris doing so. He wants him to date someone who went to private school at least, preferably one of the better ones like Wycombe Abbey."

"For fuck's sake!" Meliodas snarled, as ever annoyed by his father's blatant snobbery. He had fawned over Deldry in a sickening way, all because she had a title and a crumbling family estate which needed a significant amount of care and attention. Since the break-up, Meliodas had learned that Deldry had found herself another wealthy suitor, no doubt with the view of restoring the place.

"Yeah, well I think he's shooting himself in the foot over this one. Zeldris' girl is descended from Romanian royalty and they had status and wealth and all that, but then obviously lost everything when the Communists took power. When Romania joined the EU they moved here and had to start at the bottom of the ladder again. Her father sells groceries now, but he is highly educated. So, even though she's poor she's the right class really, and it's not like Zeldris needs the money."

"Will you stop this! Her background means nothing!" Meliodas fumed, glaring angrily at his brother's profile as the younger continued to stare at the road. This was one of the things he hated about his father, but had apparently been unable to break Estarossa of the habit. These sorts of opinions were rife in Harrow and being in the City had probably not helped.

"So, tell me about _her_. What's she like?" Estarossa grinned mischievously, turning his wicked face towards Meliodas, who realised in that instant that he had been had. His brother enjoyed goading him into arguments, and would often say outrageous things to try and get him to rant.

"Fine. She's extremely loyal and she has good taste in friends. Zeldris is lucky to have her. You happy?"

"No! That told me nothing," Estarossa complained.

"Well, it's all you'll get. Punishment enough for your nonsense," Meliodas shot back triumphantly, leaning back on the headrest.

"At least tell me what she looks like. Mela had no intel."

"You'll meet her at some point, then you'll find out for yourself. There's no way Zeldris will break up with her," Meliodas replied confidently. He remembered the tremor in his brother's voice when he had begged Gelda to stay with him. His father would have met his match this time.

These thoughts were arrested as Estarossa pulled the car into the driveway of Lorimer Hall, the tires scrunching on the gravel as they made their way up to the front of the house, an imposing facade of light grey stone picked out with climbing trails of ivy. The emotions which coursed through Meliodas at the sight were hard to cope with. There was the loathing and fear he felt for the man who lived there, but this childhood had not been all bad. The place had been welcoming under his mother's influence and he and Estarossa had enjoyed many adventures playing over the vast grounds of the estate before they had gone to boarding school.

Their father had not wanted the two elder boys around once their mother was gone, but Zeldris had, of course, been too young to leave home. Their brother had been looked after by a succession of nannies who were chosen for their pedigree, not their ability to care for a small child. Meliodas had always known Zeldris was not shown the affection he needed before he eventually followed him and Estarossa to prep school and then Harrow. He wondered how his youngest brother had amused himself in this rattling mausoleum of a house when he had no one to keep him company.

Melascyla was waiting for them outside, waving enthusiastically as the car pulled to a stop. Estarossa bounced out to embrace her causing Meliodas to scrunch up his face in an involuntary display of disgust. Melascyla always put herself first and made no pretence otherwise, but she was easy to talk to and liked a stiff drink. Meliodas knew she and Estarossa had enjoyed each other's company immensely over the years as they slowly worked their way through his father's cellar. And then of course she was rather pretty, he conceded as he examined the clinch of her trim waist in her tailored, short, sleeveless dress and the long pink hair which fell like a waterfall straight down her back.

Melascyla walked through into the wood panelled hallway as she prattled irritatingly with Estarossa. Like the rest of the house, it was a closed, dark space. Despite the number of lamps scattered about, the deep colours of the furniture and carpet soaked up the light rather than reflecting it back, bringing an aura of gloom to the building. The set up was hardly uncommon, Meliodas thought, most stately homes went in for this sort of decor. But it could hardly help his father's mental state. The man needed some sunlight.

"Meliodas, your father would like to see you as a matter of urgency," Melascyla advised as she turned away from Estarossa. "Come with me now, please."

"Why do I get left out?" Estarossa moaned, his hand on his hip and an obviously fake pout on his lips.

"Do you want to go in with him? I'm not," Melascyla replied, fluttering her long eyelashes at the taller man.

"Well in that case he can go there on his own," Estarossa said smoothly as he shot Meliodas a look full of meaning. "Off you go."

Meliodas darted quickly towards his father's study, not wanting to see him but only too pleased to escape from the pair. The room which had once been the library was on the ground floor at the other end of the house and before long Meliodas found himself outside the heavy wooden door. He unknowingly held his breath as he knocked, not realising his chest had tightened until a voice yelled at him from within and his lungs involuntarily lost the air they were holding.

In response to the hard voice which had sounded, Meliodas braced himself as if for a fight and quickly pushed the door open, his fingers trembling slightly and his heart stuttering in his chest as the familiar interior came into view. He hated it in here. The room was even darker than the rest of the house, and it took a while for his sight to adjust properly. Bookshelves covered the walls, the volumes stacked neatly in height order covered in a thin layer of dust. This was new. Usually, the room was kept spotless. Meliodas could only remember it having looked this bad when his mother was ill and the household had ground to a halt. As he crossed the thick carpet, bouncing slightly over the surface, his father glared at him and Meliodas was surprised to see that he was standing in front of his imposing mahogany desk, apparently eager to see him.

"You must speak to Zeldris," his father spat out as soon as Meliodas had close enough to see the anger blazing in his eyes. "He is making an utter fool of himself."

Meliodas stood completely still, returning his father's hard, cold stare. He was suddenly furious, beyond livid, too angry even to speak. He felt his hands clench at his sides as his heart beat erratically in his chest and blood pounded loudly in his ears. But even with this the fear still felt like a stone in his stomach, preventing him from acting out any fantasy of smashing his fist into his father's dreadful face. Besides, it would do no one any good to provoke his father's white hot wrath.

"You will make sure he stays away from that girl when you return to Oxford. I don't know what has gotten into the boy," Lord Lorimer complained. His pasty face, framed with strings of lank, dark hair was a picture of petulance. "You know he actually had he audacity to leave this room without my permission when I saw him earlier."

"What have you done?" Meliodas spoke quietly, almost politely as he felt his skin prickle with loathing. It must have been something pretty bad to provoke such a reaction from Zeldris.

"I have saved your brother's political career. Do you know how the public would react if they find out he's been fucking some Transylvanian whore?"

"How can you speak that way?" Meliodas gasped, his eyes wide and horrified. He wanted to do more, to stand up for the woman he had come to admire but the chivalric words died in his tightened throat.

"She has you under her spell too does she?" Lord Lorimer barked, his face beginning to colour puce with his rage. "She's either a clever little minx or you are both as pathetic as each other. I am disgusted with the pair of you.

"Still, I have prevented significant damage from occurring," Lord Lorimer huffed out, his countenance calming slightly. "What you do hardly matters, you've already thrown your future away, and Zeldris is safe for now at least. He has broken things off with the harlot. In fact, if you seduce her that will be very useful. Feel free to fuck her all you like. That will sort Zeldris out." Meliodas felt physically sick with this, but he held his ground, refusing to let his father see how agitated he felt.

"Zeldris is a good boy at heart, he just needs to control his baser instincts and I will make sure he does. He's had far too much freedom, but that's easily rectified. He will not date anyone again without my permission."

"He will do just fine!" Lord Lorimer yelled and Meliodas involuntarily recoiled. He had obviously let his disgust with the situation show on his features, a classic mistake he had thought he would never be dumb enough to repeat. "He has his career to focus on and unlike you he has the diligence needed to succeed in life. All you have to do is make sure he doesn't relapse once he's back in college," Lord Lorimer growled as he loomed over his son. Meliodas cursed himself internally. Why was he so weak? He knew he was in no real danger, he could easily hold his father off if needed. He had trained extremely hard for the purpose, painstakingly developing the muscular physique Ban had noted all those months ago. Not many people now could beat him in a fight and his father was definitely not one of their number.

"You will do as I say, or you will find somewhere else to live. I will kick you out of my apartment if you cross me any further. I have put up with your insolence for far too long. So if you want to continue your ridiculous... whatever it is you pretend to do, then you will obey me."

"Is that what you have planned?" Meliodas asked incredulously, his fear evaporating in an instant and his arms relaxing by his sides. "But... that's nothing! We don't need you, or your property. You leave Zeldris alone!"

Meliodas immediately spun on his heels and left the room, ignoring the shouts of protest behind him. He stormed through the hallways in search of his brother, banging doors open loudly in his haste before eventually finding Zeldris in the drawing room. His brother was scrunched up on one of the large, plush sofas, his knees drawn up close to his chin. His eyes were glazed, staring into the distance and his delicate face was so pale it looked like he had been drained of blood.

"You're coming with me. Now! No arguments," Meliodas ordered, crossing the room and pulling Zeldris to his feet. "We're going back to Oxford and you are going to get Gelda back."

Zeldris stared at him, his eyes completely devoid of their usual fire.

"There's no point," he said quietly as his eyes dropped to the floor. "She'll never forgive me. Not this time. The text he made me send was..." Zeldris' face twitched and he gulped as he held back tears. "And father is right, it would be better for me to focus on my work. It was bound to all fall apart at some point anyway."

"Don't talk like that! You love her, don't you? Then she's worth taking risks for. Now come on, there's no time to lose. The longer you leave it the more difficult it will be."

"We can't!" Zeldris cried as he tried to pull his arm away. "We have to go and pay our respects..."

"D'you know what our mother would want for you today?" Meliodas shot back, his eyes set with determination. "For you to be happy. That's all she ever wanted for any of us."

"But, we can't..."

"Look, I know I've been rotten to you, and I know you've been afraid, but you don't have to be anymore. He can't hurt us," Meliodas said, softening his tone. "We're all adults now. We never have to come back here again. There's nothing he can do to us unless we let him. He practically admitted it to me just now, that's why he's trying other forms of punishment. But they're ones we can deal with, I promise. I don't know why I didn't see it before.

"You don't need him!" Meliodas yelled in response to Zeldris' obvious unwillingness. "You never have. You've got where you are because of _you_. How many people do you think have your drive and your intellect? She'd be damn stupid not to take you back! Now, stop being stubborn and come with me."

Meliodas felt relief as Zeldris let him pull him through the hallway back towards Estarossa, who was still in conversation with his father's sidling attendant. She was leaning towards him, her hand resting on his arm, her head tilted up slightly towards his face. The pair looked up sharply as Meliodas and Zeldris approached, Estarossa looking distinctly aggrieved at the interruption.

"Time for that later Estarossa, you're taking us to the station," Meliodas sang brightly, his eyes shining with satisfaction. "Come on, it's urgent."

"We just got here. What's the rush?" Estarossa drawled, his voice purring with langur.

"I'll explain on the way. Just hurry up!"

Estarossa looked meaningfully at Zeldris who dropped his eyes to the floor under his brother's scrutiny, a slight blush creeping into his cheeks.

"It's like that is it? Alright. I'll take you back to Oxford, it'll be quicker than the train. Consider it a birthday present. I'll call you about that other matter later Mela."

At once, Estarossa grabbed his coat from the rack and strode to the door, crossing the space in a few strides. Both his brothers followed in his footsteps, scurrying to keep up as they fled to the car.

* * *

"You really don't have to do this, the train will be fine," Zeldris yelped, his eyes wary and his complexion slightly green-tinged. Estarossa was pelting through the countryside at top speed, hurtling down the narrow lanes and screeching round corners while Meliodas bounced around on the back seat, his face alight with a grin.

"He said it was urgent and he's the boss," Estarossa replied, twitching his head in Meliodas' direction as he slammed on the breaks to narrowly avoid an oncoming car. With some careful manoeuvres, the two vehicles managed to pass each other before both sped off again into the fog.

"We want to get there in one piece though!" Zeldris practically screamed as Estarossa nearly plunged the car into a hedge as he swerved round a corner. "Or maybe not. Goodness knows what father will do when he finds out about this."

"His revenge will be financial this time," Estarossa said with a smirk. "Mela told me all about it. After he found out about your extracurricular activities he had her get in touch with estate agents. He's going to sell the apartment. The idea is that you'll, and I quote, 'never darken his door again'. He figures this will make you both do as your told and that he'll finally have some control."

"He told me. No matter," Meliodas chirped in. "Ban and I nearly have enough to move out, though the teaching is killing me."

"Who's Ban?" Zeldris asked, his tone cautious as he spun round in the passenger seat to look at Meliodas.

"My friend. He's been staying with me. And he's not your biggest fan so you'd better be on your best behaviour when you meet him."

"What have I done? I don't know him from Adam!" Zeldris retorted indignantly.

"Remember Conservative Party Conference? Your speech?" Meliodas replied seriously. "You upset a lot of people. What exactly were you thinking?"

"You have to make a splash on these occasions," Zeldris huffed, his chest puffing out slightly with pride. "It doesn't really matter whether you believe it or not. It's all a game. It went down well enough anyway. I've been offered a role in Conservative Central Office over the summer and the Prime Minister congratulated me in person. Well, she had to really. It went down much better than her appearance."

Both Meliodas and Estarossa snickered at this. The new Prime Minster, chosen by the party to lead the nation through Brexit, had the reputation for being quietly competent, but try as she might the whole country knew she lacked warmth and charisma. The contrast with the flamboyant Foreign Secretary and Zeldris' youthful élan had painfully highlighted this fact to the watchful media. In a bid to exert her authority, the Prime Minister had jokingly rebuked the Foreign Secretary when she spoke at the podium but had obviously been advised that doing the same to a teenager would not go down well.

"Do you actually want this?" Meliodas asked gently. "You don't have to..."

"Yes I do!" Zeldris snapped. "What are you going to do with your research exactly? Publish it in some esoteric journal where it will go to die. And what will that accomplish? If you want to make a difference you need power. You need to be in charge. I will get into Parliament and be Prime Minister some day and then I will be the one of us who actually achieves something."

"Watch it!" Estarossa warned hotly. "Remember I can total you and your career right now," he threatened as he lurched the car dramatically to the other side of the lane.

"Not without taking damage yourself," Zeldris cried out in panic.

"It'll be worth it..." Estarossa muttered darkly.

"Look, you do have to be careful though..." Meliodas said soothingly.

"I don't need to hear this!" Zeldris snarled, snapping back round to stare at the road. Meliodas checked Zeldris' reflection in the rear view mirror, biting his lip when he saw his brother's pained expression.

"Look, it's not a criticism, well not one that's just aimed at you anyway. I was the same when I started at Oxford. I said some dreadful things. Once, I argued that disability is just a social construct," Meliodas blushed at this, his eyes trailing down to the floor of the car as Zeldris barked out a laugh. "Yeah, I know. Some disabled people do think that, but others don't. Not exactly my place to wade into the discussion. It was an absolutely stupid thing to say," Meliodas admitted, sighing with the regret of the memory. "But seriously, I did myself a lot of damage with that, and I learned my lesson. It's not a good idea to say things just to shock.

"I know everything seems simple, but the world is more complicated than you think at the moment. I know, because I was the same, just from the other end of the political spectrum. I was lucky, I didn't ace my exams and get picked up by the national media, and I would not have done as well as you if I had. But longer-term, if you want to get elected you'll need to appeal to more than just the party faithful and expose policy ideas to the real world before you say them out loud. Ban is upset because he has experience of the care system and what you said hurt him personally."

There was silence as the three boys finally left the country lanes and made it onto the main road, an artery for the motorway that would speed them back to Oxford. Estarossa's pace of travel suddenly felt less frightening as the road widened out and other cars rushed along at a similar rate.

"You might be right," Zeldris said, turning round again in his seat. "I didn't think I'd really upset anyone, I just wanted to cause a bit of a stir."

"Ban will be fine, don't worry. I'll warm him up. He's yours if you buy him a drink."

"Listen, I... I need to..." Zeldris began, his eyes meeting Meliodas' briefly before straying sideways.

"Nah, let's just call it quits shall we?" Meliodas asked. He felt his face pulling in into a joyful grin to return his brother's wide smile. He suddenly felt as light as the air. If it was that easy why could they not have done it before? He thought back to all his previous efforts and realised he had never once tried to put Zeldris on an equal footing with him. No wonder it hadn't worked really.

"To interrupt this extremely boring conversation, I need to ask you a question," Estarossa started, his eyes glued to the road. "Meliodas, are you really alright to move out?"

"Sure. It will be tight of course but I can always take on more teaching. They're queuing round the block. And hopefully I won't be writing up for much longer."

"And then what?" Estarossa enquired, a hard edge to his tone. "What are your plans?"

"A job of some sort. There's not a lot going in academia but I'm sure I'll get something."

"Are you? Do you know how many PhDs I have working for me because they could not get the job they wanted?" Estarossa asked pointedly.

"No," Meliodas said slowly. "I knew the job market was tough but..."

"It's insane." Estarossa shot back. "And no offence but there's no way you'd survive in the City. If you want an academic career you'll need to get yourself in gear. Start applying for things. I guarantee once your grant's gone you won't be able to rent anywhere in Oxford.

"And what about you? How are you going to manage, Zeldris?" Estarossa enquired.

"I don't know," the youngest said quietly. "It's one of the reasons I... I looked at rentals. I don't have enough. Even with a job I don't think I could stretch it. I could sue him, but I think I'd lose."

"Could you?" Estarossa said incredulously.

"Yes. Ban was telling me about it. There's case law. Parents have an obligation to support their children through higher education if the money's available," Meliodas explained as Zeldris nodded in agreement. "Some bloke took his parents to court and won, but it was quite a few years ago. And I dare say the chap wasn't up against father's lawyers."

"So the upshot is the two of you are both screwed," Estarossa said bluntly, catching Meliodas' eyes in the rear view mirror, his expression one of cold appraisal.

"No, we're not. We'll find a way to make it work. If I can't get a job in academia I'll take the private tuition full time. Once I've got a doctorate I'll be able to charge even more, or I'll just focus in on really rich clients and whack up the fees if I have to. At the moment, some of my students pay a really low rate, or nothing at all if they're hard up. I prefer doing that, it's more equitable, but it's a luxury I can give up. It might even pay more than an academic post if I play my cards right. I can earn enough for us both Zeldris, it will be okay."

"You don't have to do that," Zeldris stuttered. "I've got my loan and I can supplement my income. I've looked into it. You can get quite a lot working for the university fundraising team. It's horrible call centre work but it's the sort of thing I can do, and it pays well enough to make it bearable. I don't want you to have to support me."

"Would you two stop being so peppy!" Estarossa groaned. "It's like some bad film. I think you'll both find it difficult to earn enough with those plans. Meliodas, you can't charge more than the market will bear, it's simple economics. And Zeldris, yes that's not a bad idea but the university will only let you work so many hours, right? I thought so," Estarossa continued in response to Zeldris' reluctant nod. "You both need to sit down with a spreadsheet and work out your expenditure if you want to make this work."

"You're just being gloomy. Other people manage this," Meliodas replied, his smile radiating a confidence he did not really feel. "But the spreadsheet idea's not bad. We'll have a go. But first things first, we need to get to back to uni and you're about to miss our exit."

Without warning, Estarossa screeched into the left hand lane of the motorway so as to take the turning which would lead them to Oxford, causing several cars to slam on their brakes and blast their horns in anger. Zeldris yelped in fear, closing his eyes and gripping onto the seat for dear life as Estarossa grinned in delight. By some miracle unscathed, the car continued on the last stage of its journey towards the dreaming spires of the ancient university, weaving through the cars at a perilous speed.


	6. The Power Of Forgiveness

**Chapter 6: The Power Of Forgiveness**

The air was biting cold as the two brothers practically ran over the bridge on their way towards George Street, ignoring the sparkle of sunlight on the canal's calm surface in their haste. Estarossa had dropped the pair off at the train station to avoid the stuttering traffic of the city centre before heading back to London and the gruelling job he adored. Gelda was studying at Exeter College and, knowing her schedule, Zeldris thought that this was the place she was most likely to be. Logically, taking a few extra minutes to get there would make no feasible difference, but now back in Oxford desperation seemed to have taken Zeldris over completely. His pace was fevered and Meliodas was happy to oblige. He hated moving slowly anyway.

As they turned right into Turl Street and the entrance to Jesus College came into view, Meliodas felt a sharp twinge of guilt. Merlin would not be happy that he was wasting his time like this, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, he had always planned to take this day off anyway, although now he was back in Oxford he should really resume his work. No doubt his antics would come to Merlin's attention in due course, and she would likely not be at all sympathetic. He would just have to work extra hard on his chapter, she'd forgive the indiscretion if it his writing was good enough.

Exeter College stood opposite Jesus and, not being familiar faces, both Meliodas and Zeldris had to show their student cards to get in. The porter shot them a suspicious look and they slowed their pace to one which afforded a bit more decorum before making their way inside. Exeter was not one of the more famous colleges but it still attracted a fair share of tourists as the fictional place where Inspector Morse had met his tragic end. A guide was showing some holiday-makers around, their identical red caps marking them out as members of an organised tour group. It was late afternoon, and the students returning from the day's lectures all ducked quickly into the buildings to hide. One of the oddities of Oxford was that random people constantly asked for selfies with the students who studied there, this unwanted interest causing quite a bit of annoyance.

"Do you know where her room is?" Meliodas asked as they came further into the quad, taking in the neat grass lawn surrounded by the ivy-covered walls of the college buildings.

"Yes, this staircase. Are you sure you don't mind coming with me? If she doesn't forgive me... Oh, why did I have to be so stupid?"

"You were frightened, and I don't blame you," Meliodas said softly. "I'm sure she'll understand. She might be angry, in fact she probably will be at first, but she loves you and she will forgive you.

"I met her," Meliodas replied to Zeldris' questioning stare. "The loyalty she showed you was impressive."

"And this is how I repay her," Zeldris spat in disgust as he looked down at his phone, seemingly on the point of hurling it to the ground.

"Just delete it," Meliodas advised. "Now, let's get going."

The boys made their way round the quad and up the golden stone staircase Zeldris had indicated, heading towards the postgraduate dorms. The college tended to place the first years and the masters students in different parts of the building to make it easier for them to make friends with their peers. Once on the first floor corridor, Zeldris stopped abruptly outside one of the many white doors which lined the walls, his expression one of trepidation and concern. Then the sound of passionate crying made its way from within and, before Meliodas could stop him, Zeldris had turned the handle to storm in.

"Gelda, I'm so sorry..." he began, his voice trembling, but before he could continue the girl who had been weeping on her bed rushed up to embrace him, her arms clinging tight round his shoulders as she sobbed into his shoulder. Zeldris held her close, shivering slightly as he used his hand to cup the back of her head, weaving his fingers gently into her braided hair.

"I love you. I love you," he murmured as he pulled Gelda in closer, placing an arm round her waist to hold her flush against him. "He made me send that text. I..."

"I know, you signed it off differently and the sentence structure was all wrong. Even you're not antiquated enough to use semicolons," Gelda sniffed, managing a slight smile as she pulled back to examine Zeldris' face, showing her own to be swollen with crying. "I thought I'd never see you again. Why doesn't he like me?"

"Forget him. He's completely irrelevant. I love you and if he can't accept you then I want nothing to do with him. I'm sorry. I've been so weak."

As the couple locked lips, Meliodas quietly stepped out of the room closing the door softly behind him. Now that his errand was accomplished he felt completely deflated, dejected even as the adrenaline dropped. He shook his head to try and rid himself of the unpleasant sensation, deciding to go and find Ban and challenge him to another of their ritual arm wrestles. He really needed to find some distraction from his unwanted emotions. But as he made his way back along the corridor towards the spiral stone staircase, he saw a head of long, sliver hair rising above the line of the steps and his heart beat wildly in his chest as he realised the girl who had completely overtaken this thoughts was coming up into the corridor.

Elizabeth stopped short, stumbling slightly in surprise as she realised just who was standing in front of her, embarrassment causing her cheeks to flush pink. She had wanted to respond to his attempts to reach out but just couldn't make herself summon the courage. She had written many times, but deleted her drafts before clicking send. It was too terrifying to contemplate. How could he ever forgive her for what he could only think of as extremely creepy behaviour?

"I... hello. I need to go and see my friend," Elizabeth stuttered as her hands clenched at her sides.

"If you mean Gelda she's with my brother just now. It's all fine, and I think they're best left alone," Meliodas said softly, feeling his body quake with nerves. "Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened. I've wanted to see you so badly. Will you please let me talk to you?

"I... I don't care about... you know," Meliodas blurted into the silence as he stared uncomfortably at the floor, not trusting himself to continue if there was any sign of rejection in Elizabeth's eyes. "Whatever you've done is in the past. I've done things I'm not proud of, far worse than anything you could have. What I'm really worried about is that I might never live up to the person you think I am, and I don't want to disappoint you."

Elizabeth felt her blush pushing down her neck as she looked at his face, marvelling again at the beauty she found there. It took every ounce of her strength not to run into his arms, to hold him tightly to her and never let go.

"But I don't think there's any way we'll find out unless we try. I'm willing to take the risk if you are." Meliodas held his breath and, with immense difficulty he made himself raise his eyes to hers. The relief he felt when he saw her kind, eager expression made his head swim, and he had to bite his lip to ground himself in reality.

"Sure, I'd like that," Elizabeth managed to splutter out, feeling the unwelcome warmth in her face getting even hotter as he grinned back at her. Why did she always have to blush so much when she was with him?

Tentatively, Meliodas held out his hand and Elizabeth closed the gap between them, carefully interlacing her fingers with his. Sparks flew up her arm and all through her body as he squeezed her hand slightly in his warm grasp, running the pad of his thumb lightly over her skin.

"You know, you're supposed to be able to get up on the roof of this place," Meliodas murmured, his eyes drifting to where their hands were joined. "This is the building where Lyra and her daemon play on the slates in _His Dark Materials_. We could go and have a look at the city."

"That sounds wonderful! Do you know how to get up there?" Elizabeth asked, her words sounding breathless as she pressed her fingers gently into the back of his hand.

"No. Let's go and explore," Meliodas replied, his mouth stretching into a bright smile as he led Elizabeth along the corridor glancing briefly at the door he had closed.

* * *

"This is beautiful. You forget studying here how spectacular this city is," Elizabeth gushed as she stared at the view. Meliodas had somehow found a window which gave onto a hidden staircase that snaked round the outside of the building. This led up to the roof and the pair of them had risked climbing up the stone steps. The stairs were slightly slippery with the winter frost and they had both held on to the rough stone ledge carefully to ensure their balance. Exeter College was right in the centre of the university's principal estate and the golden buildings shone brightly with the last rays of the sun, the light catching the sliver-grey dome of the Bodleian library as it skimmed over the horizon.

"Philip Pullman used to come here when he was studying. I heard him at a reading once. Apparently this view is even better with a bottle of champagne," Meliodas said wistfully as he worked his arm slowly round Elizabeth's waist. She leaned into him, and they both felt a rush of contentment with the closeness this brought.

"What happened to Gelda?" Elizabeth asked, her gentle voice sounding slightly unwilling. The mention of reading had reminded Elizabeth of why she was in Exeter College in the first place. Her friend was studying for an MPhil in Medieval English and was never far away from a book. "She wanted me but didn't tell me why. She sounded really upset. I'd have got here sooner but I was in the library and didn't check my phone."

"It's a long story. Do you mind if I let her tell you herself? I'd rather not betray confidences."

"Oh, of course," Elizabeth said, turning her smiling face to Meliodas. "I understand. That's nice of you."

"I like your friend. She's remarkable and she cares about you a great deal," Meliodas replied, looking into the face that had haunted his daydreams for weeks. He took care to memorise every aspect of her features, willing the vision to be scorched onto his mind. He would keep this in case he ever lost her again.

"We've been good friends for a while. We were both bullied a lot at school and kind of depended on each other," Elizabeth admitted.

"Really?" Meliodas gasped, cursing himself inwardly as Elizabeth looked at him sharply. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I mean, usually bullies don't pick on beautiful people in my experience. I'd have thought you'd have been one of the popular crowd."

Elizabeth blushed and gazed out at the horizon. It was just the beginning of evening, but the sun still set early at this time of year and the orb in the sky was already hanging low.

"I was pretty naive. My father wanted me and my sisters to be kept away from all the harm in the world. They both rebelled and got boyfriends but I... they were so much older than me and it all seemed so scary. I didn't really want to know. Then at school everyone knew a lot more about that kind of stuff than I did. They used to tease me, and... um... I didn't understand and that made them tease me more.

"That was okay I suppose, but then they started spreading rumours. I couldn't even get away from it at home, they'd put these lies online. It was horrible. Gelda was the only one who was ever nice to me. We spent a lot of time in the library, just reading and getting on with our work. She got bullied too because of her accent."

"But she doesn't have an accent," Meliodas remarked, his brows knit together in confusion.

"Not now no, but she did when she was younger," Elizabeth replied. "She made herself get rid of it. We used to practice together.

"Then I saw you that day and you looked so sad. You changed my life. I stopped caring that everyone hated me, I pretended... you know, that we were friends, that you might want to spend time with me... I'm sorry, I know that's stupid."

"No, I understand," Meliodas said softly, pulling Elizabeth into a tight embrace, feeling her shoulders trembling slightly in his grasp. "It must have been terrible. I'm so sorry."

"You shouldn't apologise," Elizabeth said softly as she gently caressed Meliodas' cheek. He held his breath as he felt her run a finger down the line of his jaw towards his lips. He wanted desperately to respond, to crash his lips over hers, but he made himself pull back, laying his hands on her shoulders so he could look into her face.

"I do want to spend time with you, and I would have done then just as much as now, but you may not feel the same. I promised Gelda I'd tell you something."

Elizabeth looked at him expectantly, her hand running over his chest and he felt his throat go dry. The last thing he wanted to do was relive his past, but Gelda surely would if he failed to.

"The reason Zeldris was so horrible to you is because he wanted to make sure I didn't get into trouble, and it's my fault he felt he had to do it that way. He couldn't just talk to me, you see. I've been vile to him, and it's only recently that I've really understood how badly I hurt him."

Elizabeth listened, her hand not leaving Meliodas' chest as he made his confession. He let his eyes focus on the lumps of green moss pushing out between the cracks of slate and stone, waiting, muscles tensed, expecting to feel her pull away from him. When he had finished, he looked at her with apprehension, his hands clasped round her upper arms, knowing that rejection would surely come.

"Don't worry, I understand," Elizabeth said softly as she pulled him close to her, running her fingers across his scalp as he wrapped his arms round her waist. "You've made up with him, that's what's important. Everyone deserves forgiveness if they're really sorry."

As night began to fall and the temperature dropped to freezing levels, Meliodas felt Elizabeth shiver slightly in his arms. He took his coat off and draped it round her shoulders as he guided her back to the stairs. It was not much warmer in the college buildings, which were beautiful, but were also rattling and poorly insulated, making them hard to heat properly.

"Will you come back with me tonight?" Meliodas asked tentatively as they approached the quad. "I don't want to let you go just yet." Elizabeth put her arm round his waist, squeezing his side comfortingly by way of an answer and his heart beat frantically in response. He had not experienced a euphoria like this in a long while and he led Elizabeth slowly through the college and back to the neon-lit streets, unwilling for the journey and this feeling to end. Despite the winter dark, the shops and cafes of George Street were still bustling with trade and the pair had to weave carefully among the shoppers. Elizabeth felt so warm pressed to his side. She had insisted on giving him his coat back now they were moving, but even without it he was sure he would not have felt the cold.

As they left the city centre to walk over the canal, Elizabeth paused to gaze at the simmering reflections on the water's surface, the orange glow of the streetlights mingling with the silver shine of the moon. It reminded her of that night when they had spoken for the first time and she had been so happy. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned her head to rest on Meliodas' shoulder, feeling the tendons in her neck stretch slightly to accommodate their height difference. She felt a sweet yearning growing in her breast as he pulled her in closer, turning to face her and weaving his fingers into her hair.

As their lips brushed, Elizabeth felt every nerve and sinew in her body come alive, the electricity flowing like sparks through her veins as the warm hand on her head guided her, the fingers gently stroking her scalp. She responded tentatively, massaging his lips with hers as she instinctively slanted her head for a better angle, her hands clutching at the material of his coat. The kiss was slow and chaste, causing the emotions within her to gently simmer and bubble, allowing her to find new meaning in the simple action. She had never understood the fuss with her previous boyfriends and had wondered if there was something wrong with her that she could not share in the simple pleasures afforded to the rest of humanity. But this felt so right, so perfect, like they were made for each other and no one else.

As they pulled apart, Elizabeth opened her eyes to see Meliodas gazing at her with a soft longing, the evident desire there causing her heart to flip over. Without speaking, the pair made their way over to the other side of the bridge and down towards the apartment gates, their arms wrapped around each other so they could stay as close as possible.

Once inside however it immediately became clear that something was wrong. There was a low moaning noise coming through the corridor and before she could process what that might mean, Elizabeth felt Meliodas loosen his hold on her as he rushed forwards. She followed quickly in his wake, her heart stuttering with pity as she saw Ban laid out on the floor of his room, surrounded by a large number of dark brown bottles and clearly in a very dangerous condition.

"Call an ambulance, now!" Elizabeth said firmly as she knelt down by Ban, her training instantly kicking into gear. "It's probably alcohol poisoning. He might need his stomach pumped. In the meantime I'll make him as safe as I can."

Meliodas pulled his phone from his pocket while Elizabeth checked Ban's pulse, which was pounding dramatically as the alcohol sloshed through his veins. Ban seemed on the cusp of consciousness so Elizabeth shook him gently, relief flooding through her as Ban groggily opened his eyes. With difficulty, Elizabeth forced Ban into a sitting position, bracing herself against his slack weight and propping him up against the bed. Once he was positioned, she fetched a glass of water from the adjacent bathroom and forced Ban to take regular, slow sips. Ban could not speak, his head lolling slightly, but he was at least able to drink the liquid she offered.

"Why did you do it?" Meliodas groaned, the concern he felt clearly etched on his face. "You've been doing so well. What happened?"

Ban could not answer so Meliodas looked round the room to see if he could find any clues. His heart sank when he saw a letter crumpled up on the floor, suspecting immediately what news it might contain. Smoothing out the paper, Meliodas read the message written on the thick, university-headed paper. The note was short and curt, informing Ban in brief terms that his application for funding had not been successful. For good measure, there was even a quick sentence which made it clear what little the author thought of Ban's research.

"I'll kill the bastards," Meliodas growled as a white fury spread through him. How dare they do this? Ban had worked so hard, deserved this money more than anyone.

"Don't you worry Ban, I will pay them back for this. Just get better, okay?"

Elizabeth dealt with the paramedics when they arrived shortly afterwards, explaining the position and what she had done, receiving approbation from the uniformed professionals. Meliodas and Elizabeth rode with Ban in the back of the ambulance as they sped towards John Radcliffe Hospital. The paramedics confirmed Elizabeth's suspicions that Ban would most likely need medical intervention and they checked his vitals periodically until their arrived at their destination.

* * *

Meliodas was surprised that the pace of the evening was rather leisurely as Ban was slowly treated. He had never been to A&E before and had assumed it would be like the TV programmes, with doctors and nurses running and shouting as they fought to save patients who were close to death. But it was not like that at all. Ban was forced to stay in the ambulance for nearly two hours while they waited for a bed to be available. A nurse visited him once to take blood samples to check on the level of alcohol in Ban's system and rule out the possibility of an overdose or drugs. Once in a bed, surrounded by a blue plastic sheet of curtain, Ban was left to linger for what felt like far too long before he was finally wheeled away to have his stomach pumped. Meliodas could feel himself growing increasingly angry, grateful that Elizabeth was there to check Ban was in no serious danger from the enforced wait.

"They have to triage the patients," Elizabeth explained gently as Meliodas struggled to control his temper. "Ban is not in so much danger that he takes priority over others. This hospital is stretched to the limit, like everywhere else. I would have made a fuss if he needed to be seen more quickly, I promise."

"It's these damn cuts!" Meliodas muttered darkly. "Nothing works anymore."

They sat in silence on the blue upholstered chairs which were positioned alongside the bed, holding hands, jumping slightly whenever anyone walked past, hoping for news about Ban's condition. Eventually, the young man was returned on a trolley, his face white as a sheet but sleeping peacefully. Meliodas felt the tension leave his body as the doctor accompanying him assured them that Ban was out of danger, Elizabeth asking detailed questions he only half understood but to which she apparently received satisfactory replies. Soon, they were alone again, and Meliodas pulled the curtain around them to give Ban some privacy.

"Thank you for being here. I don't think I'd have stayed sane without you," Meliodas said softly to Elizabeth. "I'll stay with him tonight, you go and sleep somewhere more comfortable."

"No, I'll stay too. I'd like to make sure he's okay when he wakes up," Elizabeth answered, her eyes crinkling into a smile. "And I've got to get used to long nights after all."

Meliodas returned her smile, about to thank her again for her kindness when a young woman burst through the blue curtain, her small, round face a picture of worry. She was wearing the dark blue nurses' uniform of the hospital which was stretched tightly around her full stomach. She stopped abruptly, her golden eyes flashing with concern as she saw Ban's weakened state.

"What happened, Ban, are you okay?" the girl said desperately, stepping quickly to the bed and running her hand over his clammy forehead. "What happened?" she asked again, turning to Meliodas and Elizabeth, her lips trembling slightly as she did so. "I saw Ban's name on the patient list but it didn't say why he's here."

"Alcohol poisoning," Meliodas replied. "He found out his application for funding had been turned down today. It must have hit him hard. He's cut back on the booze a lot recently so his tolerance is probably shot. He's been trying so hard to straighten his life out, and I wasn't even there to help..." Meliodas felt his heart sink as he realised the implications of this. He had been so worried about Ban he hadn't fully taken in how his absence might have affected the situation.

"Ban!" the girl cried as she leaned over the bed, her wispy blonde hair falling down around her face, and at this the tall man stired, his crimson eyes opening into slits.

"Elaine?" he rasped out, his voice sounding harsh as he tried to sit up. The girl laid her palm on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down to lie on the bed.

"Rest now," she murmured gently. "My shift has finished. I'll stay with you, I promise. We'll talk when you're up to it."

"Go to sleep, Ban," Meliodas added comfortingly. "I'll be here too when you wake up. Then I'll give you some peace," he promised, his eyes on Elaine.

"He loves you a lot you know," Meliodas said to her sternly as Ban's eyes closed and his breathing evened to a steady pace. He looked at the girl, taking his chair round to her side of the bed so that she could sit down. "He is still devastated that you broke up."

"I know. I just didn't see any other way," Elaine muttered, her eyes fixed on Ban. "He was so... irresponsible. Always. It was fun at first, but when I got pregnant I started to worry. You know, when we first met he talked to me for hours about his collection of alcohol labels. I thought at the time it was really cute. I didn't realise what he was hiding, even though I should have. What sort of example does getting drunk all the time set for a child?"

"He's really trying to stop," Meliodas said gently. "And he will, for you. He wants you and the baby in his life. And he's brilliant, you know. His research is absolutely remarkable. He'll be a great dad, I'm sure."

"I can hear you, you know," Ban lilted, his eyes still closed as a mischievous grin crept over his face. "Thanks for sticking up for me, but I can fight my own battles."

"You rascal!" Meliodas exclaimed, punching Ban in the arm, though not too hard, as his friend broke out into a howl of laugher. "That's it. I'm outta here. I'll be back in the morning to take you home, okay?"

Meliodas shot Elaine a meaningful look as he picked up his bag, grinning as her cheeks gained a rosy hue in response. Meliodas peeked behind him as he left the curtained space, a warmth washing through him as he saw Elaine take Ban's hand. He was still smiling broadly as he and Elizabeth found their way out of the hospital, navigating themselves through the harshly lit corridors and into the freezing cold of the night.

"It's late. Let me get you a cab back to Balliol," Meliodas said softly, gazing into Elizabeth's eyes. She was hiding it well, but the glow of the streetlights showed the growing bags under her eyes. She must be exhausted.

"Well... um... I'd rather..." Elizabeth stared at the floor, her face brick red as she scuffed her shoes together. "You know, I would feel better if you let me stay with you and help with Ban in the morning, if that's okay..."

Meliodas felt the breath catch in his throat as he took Elizabeth's hand in his. He felt her fingers press into his knuckles as she led him towards the taxi rank outside the hospital.


	7. The Apartment Is Sold

**Chapter 7: The Apartment Is Sold**

"This is really good, you know," Arthur declared with a grin, his boyish face a picture of good humour as he flourished a bundle of papers marked in red ink. Meliodas grinned, relief flooding through him as he checked through the pages. Seeing there were barely any corrections to make. With this chapter done, his thesis was pretty much finished.

It had been a difficult couple of months. The Lent term had come to and end, and the university was relatively quiet, many students having returned home for the Easter holidays. But the place was by no means deserted. With exams approaching, many learners were spending every free moment in one of the libraries, cramming the knowledge they needed into their brains and training their hands to write for hours at a time having relied on computers all year. As a third year student, Elizabeth was mercifully preoccupied with revision, otherwise she would have had good cause to complain. The time they had spent together had been snatched and hurried with both of them absorbed in their work.

True to his word, Lord Lorimer had put the apartment on the market. When the photographers arrived, the reality of losing the roof over their head set in and sent Meliodas and Ban into a frenzy of teaching. It was exhausting. The only saving grace was that Ban had a new determination to succeed at his work. He had sent off an application for funding which he had written himself and it was even better than the last attempt. Elaine had agreed to resume a sort of friendship on the condition that Ban attend AA meetings and Ban had been going religiously, evangelically even. He had not touched a drop of alcohol since his spell in hospital and the times Meliodas had seen them together Elaine had seemed relaxed and contented. Ban was slightly less fun, he lamented, but still, it was all for the best. Ban was definitely a lot happier now than he had been all year and they were both looking forward to meeting his child.

"Thanks. I couldn't have done this without you." Meliodas smiled, returning Arthur's smile which lit up his piercing, violet eyes. The contact lenses he went in for were an absolute affectation but they did make him look cute.

"No problem. You've just got your conclusions left to write then? Send them to me when you're done. I'll give them the once over before Merlin gets her claws into them."

Arthur stepped lightly out of the office, the spikes of his ginger hair quivering slightly with the movement, and Meliodas felt his elation as he watched him go. There was no way he was going to be able to be productive in this euphoric state. Might as well go home and take the evening off. Packing the papers into his bag, Meliodas made his way out of the building into Wellington Square. The air was blissfully warm, the yellow sun beaming down on the bright green foliage. Daisies and buttercups scattered the lawn in the centre of the garden signalling that the balmy weather of spring had well and truly arrived.

Meliodas quickly stepped back down St John's Street and over the canal, taking in the crisp green leaves on the willow branches which oscillated gently in the light breeze. Maybe Elizabeth would be willing to take a break from revision that evening, he thought with a grin as he sprinted back towards the apartment, clattering through the gates and bursting into the corridor.

He was surprised to find Zeldris waiting for him there, his face ashen grey and his eyes wary.

"What's up?" Meliodas asked cordially. Since the rushed drive back to Oxford the two brothers had spent quite a bit of time together and were now on easy terms. True love had been good for the youngest, Meliodas thought fondly. His harsh manner had softened considerably in the last couple of months. Gelda had been round to visit on several occasions and Meliodas had been pleased his brother had found someone who was not only loyal but pleasant to talk to. Gelda was contemplating continuing her research into Arthurian legend once her MPhil finished next year and she knew quite a bit about the character he was named after. They had enjoyed talking about the perils of PhD life, though he rather thought his candid account must have put her off further study.

"You didn't get the message?" Zeldris asked, his words coming unwillingly as he swallowed slightly.

"No," Meliodas responded pulling his phone out of his pocket. He saw a missed call and voicemail from a Lancashire number and knew that could only mean one thing.

"Good thing you got here in time then. Father is going to call. He texted to tell me to be here when he does," Zeldris murmured, his hands clenched tight in nervousness. "What do you think he wants?"

"No idea, but whatever it is remember you've done the right thing, you know that right?" Meliodas examined Zeldris carefully, taking in the thin line of his mouth and the clench of his jaw. He was hiding it well but Zeldris was terrified.

"Come on, let's go upstairs. Might as well wait for this bollocking in comfort," Meliodas said gently as he led his brother up to the living area. The two boys waited opposite one another on the white leather sofas, the apartment's cordless phone standing upright in the middle of the walnut coffee table between them. The atmosphere was almost thick enough to see and Meliodas felt a slight annoyance as Zeldris tapped his knees with his fingers.

After what felt like hours but in reality was around ten minutes or so, the phone rang, the cheerful ringtone making both brothers jump. Meliodas felt his hand tremble slightly as he pushed the buttons to answer the call and put it on speaker, reminding himself that it was only words and that the ordeal would be over soon.

"I am giving you one more opportunity to save yourselves," the voice boomed without preamble. "I know what you have been up to. I have a private detective here with me and the pictures he has taken are absolutely horrifying. Not only are you still fornicating with that vampire Zeldris, but you Meliodas are apparently fucking Liones' slut of a daughter. I am ashamed of both of you."

Meliodas felt his hands clench into fists as he imagined punching his father into a bloody pulp. Zeldris looked at the phone on the table, his lip quivering pitifully.

"You will not speak about Elizabeth like that. Nor Gelda either. We have both had enough. You do not have to accept our girlfriends, but we will not let you insult them," Meliodas ground out, his words falling like stones.

"I mean it, if you do not stop this now I am throwing you out," Lorimer shouted.

"Do it then!" Zeldris yelled, the fire suddenly returning to his eyes. "Meliodas is right, you have nothing! You cannot hurt us anymore. Do your worst!"

Meliodas looked at Zeldris in surprise. He had anticipated doing all of the talking. His brother's defiance was as unexpected as it was welcome.

"Fine. In that case I have news for you. Sign here Galland," their father commanded, and the boys looked at each other, confused at the pause in the conversation. "As of now, the apartment is sold. It went on the market today and was snapped up instantly. The buyer is an investor who doesn't want to bother with all the legal crap. He's buying it now. I have just signed the papers and they have been witnessed. Melascyla, fax this off to the solicitor at once."

Meliodas' heart sank as he heard a rustling noise on the other end of the line. He had known this day was approaching but had banked on having more time to sort things out. He had expected there to be some viewings at least, and then the process of analysing the property before the buyer agreed to exchange. There was usually a survey, as well as a number of solicitors' checks. The whole house-selling thing generally took at least a month or two. He and Ban hadn't even found somewhere else to go yet, and they'd now have to add urgent flat hunting to their list of chores.

"Completion is in two weeks so start packing. If you get in the way of this sale I will make you both wish you had never been born. I never want to hear from you again. I hope the whores are worth it."

The line went dead. Meliodas looked at his brother whose face was even paler than before, his eyes glazed and staring downwards.

"It's alright," Meliodas comforted, making his voice as soft as possible. Zeldris swallowed, his eyes blinking noticeably more than usual, but he set his face into a stoic expression. Meliodas was impressed. Seven years ago, he would definitely have cried if his father had spoken to him like that.

"Nothing to be done," Zeldris croaked out, his voice rasping as if it hurt to speak. "You're right, we did the right thing. No point getting upset about things you can't change.

"I just thought... I thought when it came down to it he wouldn't go through with it. I thought he loved me. Stupid really. He never cared about me at all, he only wanted me to be his puppet."

"That's not true," Meliodas murmured, moving round to sit next to his brother on the sofa, draping an arm over his shoulders. "He does love you in his own way. He thinks this is in your interest, I'm sure."

"Don't lie!" Zeldris snapped, his eyes flashing with a familiar anger. "That's bullshit and you know it. If he cared about me, about either of us, he'd never spy on us and disown us like this."

"Okay, you're right, but we don't have to let him win. We don't have to be miserable. After all, he's only hurting himself. You'll be Prime Minister one day and he'll miss out on all the glory. And why? Because he's a racist snob who won't even give Gelda a chance. If he met her, even he would see she's amazing. This crap about her harming your political chances is absolute nonsense. The press will be all over her, anyone can see that. He's losing out on his dream of getting to walk into number ten by your side because he's a prejudiced piece of shit. Ridiculous really."

"Yeah, that's true I suppose," Zeldris murmured, his eyes fixed back on the floor.

"Revenge, dish best served cold and all that," Meliodas advised, forcing himself to smile broadly. "You go and be happy. Forget him. There are plenty of other people who love you," he finished as he squeezed Zeldris' shoulder slightly.

Zeldris looked up sharply, then blushed, his cheeks taking on a strange pinkish hue as he made eye contact, the beginning of a smile forming on his lips.

"Well, thanks. And I think I can help. You want me to look for flats? I'll need somewhere to stay next year too and I know you're snowed under. I can get a shortlist together if you like?" Zeldris asked tentatively, his eyes seeking approval.

"Yes please! That would be amazing. You sure you've got time?"

"Oh yes. Prelims are a piece of cake. I've not got anything less than a first all year, and these exams don't even count," Zeldris boasted, his cocky manner returning and Meliodas smiled.

"And... would you like me to proof read your thesis? I may not understand all of it, but I can correct the grammar and spelling," Zeldris offered cautiously. "I know you're close to finishing it."

"You'd really do that?" Meliodas said quietly, suddenly serious. He was touched. He hadn't even thought his brother would take any notice of his work let alone offer to help with it.

"Of course. You're always telling me I need to know more about the tax system. Presumably you have a literature review which will be a starting point at least," Zeldris murmured. "And... I'd like to see what you've done, if you'll let me."

"You're on! You... you're amazing. That means a lot," Meliodas muttered, feeling a pleasant warmth flow to his face as he returned his brother's increasingly broad smile.

"If he's chucking us out we should at least do him a favour and get rid of his port, right?" Zeldris suggested.

"Good plan. There's not a lot of it left though, sorry..." Meliodas grinned as Zeldris shot him a look of amused irritation. "But there are some cigars if you want?" he added, stepping up to get them on seeing Zeldris' eager assent.

* * *

The afternoon sun streamed through the large window in Merlin's office, picking up the form of the knick-knacks and trinkets displayed all over the room, the spoils of the various awards she had won. Meliodas sat in his supervisor's chair, anticipating that this urgent meeting would not bring good news. He was a little surprised therefore when Merlin looked at him keenly, her face alight with a smile of apparent approval.

"You did it," she praised, her sharp eyes sparkling with delight as she looked at her student. "It's good enough. It was a pleasure to read in fact. Just make a few adjustments and you can submit it," she added, handing Meliodas his chapters with her brief notes scribbled over in spidery handwriting.

"You mean it?" Meliodas gasped in astonishment, relieved that the anticipated telling off was not going to happen. He had emailed Merlin a first draft of his thesis just a week ago and had expected her to take longer to read it. He had wondered if the call to her office was in order to tell him to start all over again so to find out it was the opposite was a pleasant experience.

"Yes. You've finally done a good job. About time you lived up to all that early promise. In fact, I've taken the liberty of contacting your examiners for you. The viva will take place in July so you'd better hand it in soon, by the end of the week at the least."

"They both agreed to examine me?" Meliodas questioned. He had chosen some of the top academics in his field hoping for a career-boosting reference, but had anticipated that at least one of them would say no.

"Word of your collaboration with the Revenue has spread. The rumour is your model works, so naturally everyone wants to see your thesis," Merlin confided. "I see from your analysis that this is so. You can make the final adjustments and go and hand it in."

"I will, but not today. I'm moving out. Got to take all my stuff to the new flat," Meliodas said with a grin, forcing himself to project some enthusiasm. Zeldris had scoured the market and miraculously found something suitable which fit their combined budget, but it was miles away from the centre and perishingly pokey. Still, the five of them would have a good time. Elizabeth and Gelda had agreed to move in.

"In fact, I had better go if you can spare me. We're signing the lease this afternoon and I don't want to be late."

"I heard your father had disowned you. How are you taking it?"

"It was bound to happen at some stage, but it has been a bit awkward. I don't really want to say goodbye to the place," Meliodas admitted. "Still, as my brother said, no point getting upset about things you can't change."

Meliodas walked slowly down the staircase and out into Jesus College's quad. The blazing sun was shinning brightly on the bluebells, roses and peonies which blossomed in the flowerbeds edging the college buildings. The air was soft and warm, inviting even, the perfect day to spend on the river or lying in a field to look up at the wisps of fluffy white cloud. Annoying that for once he was free of his responsibilities but had to spend the day carting his stuff to the new flat only to unpack all over again. At least Estarossa had offered to turn up with the car which would make the whole experience a bit easier to manage.

As he approached the apartment gates, Meliodas saw Ban and a heavily pregnant Elaine standing outside, locked in a passionate embrace. "About time," Meliodas muttered under his breath as he made his way towards the pair.

"You all fixed for the move?" Meliodas asked warmly, smiling brightly at Elaine. He was happy to see Ban looking so contented.

"About that, thing is I'm not moving, not in with you anyway," Ban sang, his arm round Elaine who was blushing, a sweet smile lighting her face. "Elaine's taken me back. We're going to try living together again."

"That's amazing! Congratulations! You won't regret it Elaine, I promise," Meliodas said brightly, gently hugging her round her shoulders so as to avoid pressing into her taut stomach before turning to yell at Ban.

"Thanks for leaving me in the lurch you jerk! Now we'll have to find another flatmate."

"Sorry, you know how things are," Ban lilted as he avoided eye contact, preferring instead to stare at the ground.

"Aw, it's no problem really. I'm happy for you. Now don't screw it up," Meliodas whispered menacingly, pulling Ban's ear down towards him. "If you do I'll kill you."

"Alright boss!" Ban replied, his impish grin alight with mischief. "Oh, I wanted to say, thanks for your help with the scholarship applications. The last one came through. Looks like I've got funding for the next two years."

"You got any more good news you want to spring on me today?" Meliodas chuckled. He was pleased for Ban and made himself show his enjoyment, but deep inside he also felt keenly disappointed. His friend would not be around so much anymore. With his thesis handed in, they would not even be working in the same office, unless he took a while to find a job or had to correct his thesis after the oral exam.

"You've got to promise you'll still make time to hang out, even after the baby's arrived, okay," Meliodas demanded, his eyes straying to Elaine, and he felt his relief when she nodded solemnly.

"Of course. You're my best friend aren't you? And it's not goodbye yet, we're going help you out now. Well, I am, you need to rest," Ban said tenderly as he ran his hand soothingly over Elaine's back.

"It's alright Ban, the baby's not due for another month. I'm fine," Elaine protested lightly, but Meliodas could see she was extremely happy to have Ban's attention.

Stepping slightly ahead to allow them some privacy, Meliodas made his way through the gates and was disappointed to see no car in the drive. Estarossa had obviously not yet made it to Oxford. Gelda was just bringing a box out of the apartment, and Meliodas went to help her set it down.

"We're all packed up," Gelda said brightly. "Sorry about Ban though," she added as he and Elaine pulled into view. "Are you going to be alright in the flat on your own?"

Meliodas had forgotten about that. Although his brother and the two girls would be moving in eventually they had elected to finish their exams first. This would not be for another six weeks. The Hilary Term had only just started, with the written tests falling right at the end of the period.

"Oh, it'll be fine. It's only for a few weeks anyway." Meliodas slapped his usual grin on his face as he returned Gelda's questioning gaze, hoping she could not read his feelings. He was glad Gelda had agreed to move in. Zeldris had worried, confiding in Meliodas that he thought their relationship too nascent to bear such a test, but he had thankfully listened to his brother's advise about the necessity of taking risks in the circumstances. This was true, but it was not the main reason Meliodas had pressed for Gelda to be included in their living arrangements. The strain of hiding her relationship from her father was testing even her resolve, and Meliodas knew she needed Zeldris to give her a stronger sign of commitment.

He had worried himself about the prospect of Elizabeth moving in, although the idea of spending every day with her was absolutely tantalising. His fears had been calmed though after meeting Bartra Liones, who had come to Oxford to help boost the local Labour candidate's electoral chances. The Prime Minister had surprisingly called an early election and the political machine was out in full force. Elizabeth had introduced them, and although Bartra had been wary of his rival's son at first, he had quickly changed his mind on seeing Meliodas' skill and zeal on the campaign trail. He was an expert, having spent every election since he was seventeen years old knocking on doors to persuade people to vote Labour, an act of defiance his father knew nothing about. After that, Bartra had been assiduous in welcoming Meliodas to his family, even inviting him to stay with them at Loch Pernes for their annual summer break. Elizabeth thought a great deal of her father, and his approval made the relationship more likely to succeed.

A familiar gentle laugh brought him back from his thoughts as Zeldris and Elizabeth came through the door, both of them with a box in their arms. Zeldris had apologised and done his best to make himself agreeable and Elizabeth had in return been gracious, welcoming even. Amazingly, they were now getting along fairly well, having bonded over their shared dismay at Brexit, both of them still denying to themselves that it would take place. Though perhaps it was just as well they would not be living together just yet, Meliodas considered. It would be an utter disaster if the two of them watched the coverage of next month's general election result in the same house.

"He's very late," Zeldris complained as he set his box down. "What on earth do you think he is playing at?"

"No idea, but if he's not here soon we're going to have to make our way there on our own. We need to be out of here before the new owners turn up," Meliodas said gloomily. "Although I guess I could go to the flat by myself and sign the lease. Can I store this stuff in your rooms, Zeldris?"

"Of course, I'll come with you. We can take the essentials there between us. Let's get these to Balliol for now," Zeldris agreed, picking up a box, Ban and Elizabeth following suit. They all put them down again as they heard a car horn honking before Estarossa's small, black vehicle drove through the gates.

"About time too!" Meliodas yelled as the car drew up, recoiling slightly when he saw Melascyla sitting in the passenger seat. Estarossa parked the car and got out, opening the door for Melascyla so she could follow him. His face was dark and serious as he stepped forwards, Melascyla sliding along next to him, their arms nearly brushing together as they moved.

"Hi Mela," Meliodas managed to splutter. "Didn't expect to see you here. Does my father..."

"Well, it's none of his business where I am now, I resigned this morning," Melascyla lisped, a careful smile creeping over her face. "And I thought I'd best come and see this apartment."

"Okay..." Meliodas muttered, confused.

"Thanks for coming. We've got to move quickly. The new owners will be here any minute," Zeldris chattered as he stepped forwards towards his brother. "Whoever knew Meliodas would have so much crap to shift."

"There'll be no need for that," Estarossa said coldly. "You won't need any help with the move."

"What do you mean?" Meliodas asked incredulously. "We definitely do!"

"I mean no one is moving anywhere," Estarossa chuckled, his face suddenly breaking out into a huge grin. "The new owner is fine with you staying here. He'd like you to in fact."

"I don't understand..." Meliodas began.

"It's simple really. I bought this place. Sorry for not telling you sooner but I didn't want father to twig until after completion," Estarossa cooed, his face softening considerably as his smile widened even further. "Mela's been keeping an eye on him to make sure he had no suspicions. I thought for sure he's realise something was up when I said I didn't want to bother with a survey, but he was too cross to care."

"What!" Meliodas yelled. "You bought it? But how?"

"My bonus. I told you it was massive and the one I got at the end of the financial year was even better. All in all, I had enough to buy the apartment. Seemed a good enough purchase for investment purposes, even if it did use up all my savings," Estarossa drawled, grinning down at Meliodas and Zeldris as they stared up at him.

"You'll have to make some sacrifices I expect," Melascyla warned. "Like taking the tube to work instead of taxis. I can't actually believe you do that anyway," she scolded. "London has an extremely efficient public transport system."

"It's so crowded!" Estarossa whined. "All these people invading your personal space. I tried it yesterday. Do you know, I had to queue to get on? The people were like ants. But yeah, I guess I can do it. Everyone else seems to manage."

"But what are you going to do, Mela? There's no way my father will give you a decent reference now," Meliodas said softly, regretting the unkind thoughts he had harboured for her mere moments before.

"Oh, that's all sorted. My firm offered Mela a job as my PA. They've agreed to match your old salary, by the way," Estarossa remarked as he turned to face the woman standing next to him.

"Let this be a lesson to you both. Competence is king. You can do anything you want in life as long as you do it well," Estarossa proclaimed, his chest expanding with pride. "My firm don't want to lose me, so they do what I say."

"But why? Why would you do this?" Zeldris asked in astonishment. "We can't afford market rent for this place and we'll never be able to pay you back."

"Well, you're my brothers. Got to stick together," Estarossa said gruffly.

"I'll pay you everything I can. It won't be enough but I've got my loan and..."

"You'll do nothing of the sort, Zeldris. I want you to have the same experience I did when I was at uni. It'll be no fun for you if you're worrying about money all the time. I'm going to give you an allowance as well."

"Actually, you don't need to do that," Zeldris said, a small smile on his lips. "I was going to save this for later but, well..." Zeldris pulled a folded up broadsheet newspaper from his bag, opening it and holding it out to his brothers.

"What's this?" Meliodas asked, looking at the proffered paper. There was a picture of Zeldris heading a column in the political section which took up the whole page. It was headed, 'Invest In Child Social Care'.

"I wanted to apologise for what I said in my speech, and I couldn't think of an easy way to do it," Zeldris said haltingly, his cheeks colouring slightly. "So I wrote this. Ban kindly checked it over to make sure it was okay," he continued, glancing up at Ban who grinned broadly, showing off his fierce canines.

"The editor called me today. It's had a good reaction from readers so they've commissioned me to write this column every week. They're going to pay me and with my loan it's enough to live on."

"That's amazing!" Gelda yelled as she pulled Zeldris into a hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"This is good, you come across really well," Elizabeth said as she read the contents over Meliodas' shoulder, resting her cheek lightly against his face. "It's almost like you're not a Tory." This earned her a slightly peeved look from Zeldris as Meliodas laughed his enjoyment.

"Not bad." Estarossa looked at Zeldris keenly. "You're pretty sharp aren't you. Nice job." Estarossa suddenly thrust out his arm, aiming to punch Zeldris in congratulations on the shoulder. Quicker than thought, Zeldris held up his hand, stopping Estarossa completely mid swing with apparently no effort at all.

"Woah," Ban said appreciatively. "I wanna arm wrestle you!"

"Later. We still have things to discuss. Meliodas, you will pay me rent. Well, you will when you get a job," Estarossa said sternly as he looked at his eldest brother. "Don't feel you have to take any old crap though. I don't mind if you take a bit of time to find something you like," he added more kindly.

"And Gelda, Elizabeth, you don't need it pay me anything while you're studying. You can't afford it and I don't need the money really. You're making my brothers happy and that's what matters."

Meliodas stared at Estarossa trying desperately to form words which refused to come.

"I don't know how to thank you. I can never repay you for this."

"No, I know that. I don't care. Come on, I'll help you unpack since my tardiness has caused this unnecessary work," Estarossa drawled as he picked up a box and carried it towards the apartment. "Then Ban, we'll all arm wrestle you and I will definitely win."

"You always do," Meliodas agreed, laughing as the group made their way back inside their new home.

* * *

 _I cut some of this chapter - it was way too detailed. Thank you very much BettyBest2 for the helpful feedback! The problem is more widespread than this but this chapter was the worst for it._


	8. The Viva And Beyond

**Chapter 8: The Viva And Beyond**

Meliodas sat outside the polished door of the office, willing himself not to bite his nails with anxiety. His supervisor sat opposite, her expression pensive as she crossed her legs elegantly under her long, black skirt. They were both on edge, their nerves jittery. They were supposed to be observing the rule that, at this moment, you talked about absolutely anything at all except the conversation which was happening on the other side of the door. But Merlin, as always, was not one for convention.

"There will be corrections, we just have to see how extensive they will be," Merlin remarked as she flicked a piece of fluff from her purple jacket. "Did you have to pick that horrible man to examine your work?"

"I didn't have much choice!" Meliodas protested although truth be told his train of thought was not far from that of his supervisor. Professor Ludoshel had given him a very hard time. But as the only Oxford academic with an understanding of the modelling technique he had used, Meliodas had not had much option but to ask him to be the internal examiner.

The days leading up to the viva, the oral exam that would determine whether or not he got to call himself a doctor, had flown by at a pace. Elizabeth had finished her third year and the two of them had spent blissful days together, wandering around the city and enjoying the true warmth of the summer. Estarossa's largesse had given Meliodas the freedom to cut back on the private tuition, and the end of the examination season had in any case led to a sharp drop in demand for his services. With his thesis submitted, he had been able to concentrate on Arthur's experiment and finally spending some time with his girlfriend. And if the past months had proven anything it was that he and Elizabeth were made for each other.

After Estarossa's revelation, Elizabeth had agreed to move into their new home straight away. Getting to wake up next to her every morning had satisfied a burning need deep in his soul he had not even realised existed, the feeling of closeness and permanence in their relationship giving him a joy he could barely contain. Zeldris and Gelda had moved in that week and, so far, the four of them had found living together a pleasant experience.

Elizabeth had resisted teasing Zeldris about the Conservatives' appalling show in the general election. The government had held on to power, but the surprising surge in the Labour vote meant the Tories had lost their majority and been forced to form an agreement with the Democratic Unionists. Even all these weeks later Zeldris was still on edge, and Meliodas had worried how their mixed-party household would cope. But Elizabeth had been masterful. She had gently agreed that the result was a disaster, expressing her concern for the fragile peace in Northern Ireland. Zeldris had followed her lead, and they had both found areas of conversation which were satisfying topics without causing anger.

It was perhaps this domestic contentment and the knowledge that his thesis had been poured over by some of the best scholars in the land, which had lulled Meliodas into a false sense of security. After all, there was ample proof that his model worked. The Revenue had abandoned the evaluation early on the basis it was so effective and had rolled out his case selection method to cover the whole population. Feedback from the tax inspectors was that it was a wonderful success, and the Revenue was delighted at the extra yield they had collected thanks to his efforts. There was no reason at all why the viva should be a painful experience.

And yet it had been. Professor Ludoshel had been sour and mean, making his displeasure felt throughout the entire two hour interview. His fellow examiner hadn't even tried to hide his frustration, shooting cold looks in Professor Ludoshel's direction whenever he opened his mouth. But Meliodas had been patient and effectively disarmed each and every one of the barbed verbal attacks. There was a reason he had earned the nickname 'Full Counter' when he was president of the Union. There was not an argument in the world that he could not return.

"You can come back in now," a deep voice sounded as the door opened and an avuncular face surrounded by a lion's head of hair grinned toothily at him. Meliodas and Merlin both stood up quickly. The discussion between the examiners which would decide his fate had only lasted twenty minutes or so when he had heard they could potentially go on for hours. He had expected it to. After all the two examiners clearly did not agree. Meliodas glanced at Merlin nervously, her inscrutable look doing nothing to calm his building fears as they both went back through the door to hear the decision.

"It was a quicker discussion than I thought. We both agree you deserve to pass," the short, plump man said calmly as he nodded his head, the motion causing his snow-white mane to bob about. Professor Chandler had clearly been on Meliodas' side from the start of the viva, showing a gentle kindness throughout the interrogation. Fortunately as the external examiner he had seniority and had obviously been able to force the outcome.

"It was a good piece of work, and I enjoyed reading it immensely. I will be very happy to give you a reference if you need one. I would like to see you enter academia soon."

"We do want you to re-write your conclusions though," a harsh, cold voice chipped in. Professor Ludoshel looked down at him sternly, his arms folded over his chest. "Just summarising your work isn't good enough, you need to push the boundaries of theory more."

"Well, we disagree about that, but bolstering up your conclusions will do you no harm at all. It will help your work have impact and it won't take you long to do. We'll give you a month. Just minor corrections. Please send the revised conclusions straight to me when you're done," Professor Chandler pronounced, shooting Professor Ludoshel a triumphant, sideways look.

"Thank you!" Meliodas breathed a sigh of relief. Most PhD candidates were given corrections of some sort or other, although a lucky few, like Gowther, passed straight away. On the scale of things what was being asked of him was extremely easy to deal with. Poor Diane had sat through her viva recently and had been asked to collect more qualitative data. She had reluctantly flown back to Indonesia, annoyed that her years of work were not deemed good enough and wondering how she might pay the bills. The funding PhD students received only covered their initial phase of research, not the work dealing with any corrections that could take up to eighteen months to complete.

"It was a reasonable enough read I suppose," Professor Ludoshel said grudgingly. "You write tolerably, and there were not too many typographical errors. I made a list of what I found so you can make these good." Professor Ludoshel handed Meliodas a piece of paper showing that Zeldris had done an excellent job. There were only twenty errors or so in the entire three hundred page thesis. Clearly the examiner had been expecting more.

"I did want to ask what you are going to do with your research now," Professor Chandler asked kindly. "What are your plans."

"I've been lucky," Meliodas said smoothly, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "I found out this week I have a lecturing job at Oxford Brookes University, starting in September. A lot of my time will be devoted to teaching but I will be expected to publish. I wonder if you could advise me, should I try for a book or publish the individual chapters as papers?"

"Do both." Professor Chandler grinned. He looked pretty fierce when he did that, but Meliodas could see the benevolence in his eyes. "I'll help you turn this into a book if you like, but you'll need the papers to help secure your career."

"And what do the Revenue think of this work? I did notice you only covered the first month of the evaluation in your thesis, which looks suspicious frankly," Professor Ludoshel chipped in before Meliodas could express his thanks. At this, Professor Chandler looked murderous, but Meliodas knew how to deal with difficult customers.

"I can see your point. An unfortunate consequence of timing alone. The Revenue are delighted with my model. In fact, their analysts have let me know that the Treasury have given them some funding to create a Tax Research Group to see if there are any other data-driven innovations which could help bring in more yield. The tendering process will open in September and I'm going to bid for it. If I win the contract, I think some of the Revenue's analysts will come with me. Their inside knowledge will mean we can establish an effective research programme and we work well together."

"That sounds very promising," Professor Chandler encouraged. "You should remember to publish your qualitative results too. The chapters were a joy to read." Meliodas beamed, making a mental note to thank Arthur profusely.

"So, you can relax. We will send you our instructions in a formal letter so you can work on the changes, but I have no doubt you will manage these with ease. Congratulations Doctor Lorimer." Professor Chandler smiled warmly as he rose from behind the polished table, shaking Meliodas' hand in the process. Meliodas made himself shake Professor Ludoshel's limp hand solemnly too before he and Merlin left the room.

"I'm never letting him examine one of my students again!" Merlin fumed as soon as she and Meliodas were out of the building. "That was completely unreasonable! How dare he speak to you like that! I'm going to make sure his own students pay."

Meliodas was surprised. Merlin never normally raised her voice and he had no idea she would care so much.

"No harm done. It was my fault for picking him," Meliodas said stoically. "I should have known he would not be happy that I used a mixed methods approach, he never does so in his research."

"That's because he's incapable of it. He doesn't have the stamina or the brains," Merlin rasped harshly and Meliodas laughed, relieved to be letting go of some of the tension.

"Well, I'll be getting home, I guess..." Meliodas said, feeling suddenly deflated. It all felt so flat, so uneventful, as if the viva had never happened at all. After all the journey wasn't yet finished, there was more work to do and the triumph he'd anticipated had failed to materialise. He could still hear the criticism and feel his heart thump with the fear that he might walk away from all those years of work with nothing. The rumour was that this had nearly happened to King, but that he had somehow persuaded his examiners to give him another chance.

"Thanks for all your help Merlin. I couldn't have done it without you."

"I know. You said as much in your acknowledgement. That was nice of you by the way." Merlin said smoothly, her sparkling eyes meeting his. "But you can't go home just yet. It's tradition for the supervisor to buy the successful candidate a drink, no matter what the result. And I know that it was not the most pleasant experience but you have succeeded today. You handled that viva well and it is a good result."

"Are you sure?" Meliodas asked tentatively. He and Merlin got on very well but their relationship had always been entirely professional. Other supervisors could occasionally be found in the pub with their students, but Merlin was not one of them. She didn't even socialise with Arthur, who was the nearest thing she had to a friend.

"Come on, let's go to the Eagle and Child," Merlin suggested and Meliodas shot her a questioning glance. This would not have been his first choice of venue. The famous pub did a roaring trade as the well-known former watering hole of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, where the two towering authors would discuss the fantastic worlds they were building. It wasn't anything special and yet attracted a multitude of tourists, meaning that it was generally on the expensive side. Still, at this time of day it would at least be relatively quiet.

"It's tradition," Merlin continued brightly. "Someone in the Department took their student there because their magnum opus was purported to be as long as _The Lord Of The Rings_. That was in the days before word limits," Merlin said with finality as Meliodas giggled.

Together Meliodas and Merlin headed along Broadway, past the huge golden edifice of Balliol College before turning up the side of the Ashmolean. The Eagle and Child was situated on the enormous thoroughfare of St Giles, the long, wide street lined with neat flower baskets filled to the brim with pink blossoms. They walked in silence, Merlin practically gliding along as they made their way to the white walls of the pub, its name marked out in ornate black letters along the side. The more he thought about it, the less this made sense. He'd been at the university long enough to see quite a few people's post viva drinks and they usually chose one of Oxford's darker, cheaper venues.

As he entered the pub, heading down the small flight of steps and into the wood panelled interior, Meliodas was surprised and delighted to see a crowd of familiar faces taking up and entire corner of the room, all of them suddenly falling silent and looking at him expectantly.

"This was your brother's idea. He emailed me about it a couple of days ago," Merlin whispered with amusement. "A slightly novel suggestion. Usually it is left to the candidate to organise the celebrations but Zeldris thought you would need encouragement. I have to say, I was surprised when you proved him right."

Meliodas walked forward towards the group, his face practically split in two with his broad smile as he pulled Elizabeth into a close embrace, his eyes meeting his brother's across the table.

"Thanks for coming. It's a pass," he spluttered out and immediately the group broke into a round of applause.

"Yes!" Zeldris cried, standing up and moving round the table to give Meliodas a hug. "Wait here. I'm buying champagne."

"Excuse me, that's the supervisor's prerogative I think you'll find," Merlin declared firmly as she moved towards the bar.

"How was it?" Elizabeth asked as she slipped her hand round the back of his neck, gently running her nails over his skin. Meliodas kissed her lips tenderly, still feeling the blood stir in his veins at this action even after all these months of being together.

"Awful!" he said cheerfully. "But it's over now. They gave me minor corrections, but it's nothing sinister. I just have to re-write my conclusions."

"That's great," Ban drawled, as he handed the small baby he was holding carefully to Elaine, supporting its head in his large hand. The choice of venue made sense now. They needed somewhere family-friendly and easy for the parents to get to.

"Hate to pull you away when you've just got here but can I have a word?" Ban asked solemnly, gesturing at the door.

"Sure, of course," Meliodas agreed, puzzled at the seriousness in Ban's eyes. He hoped there was nothing wrong.

The pair went outside into the bright summer evening. The sky was impossibly blue without a cloud to be seen, the sun's warm light dazzling their eyes after being immersed in the pub's dingy interior. Tourist season had definitely arrived, Meliodas reflected, as a group of young people in green caps walked passed, bouncing along behind a guide holding up a small flag on a stick. They looked ridiculous, and he couldn't help but giggle despite the earnest look on Ban's face.

"I want to ask you a favour," Ban sang, his crimson eyes boring into Meliodas'. "I popped the question yesterday and Elaine said yes. Will you be my best man?"

"Wow!" Meliodas grinned. "Way to confuse me. I thought you were going to tell me something was wrong. Yeah, of course! I'd be honoured."

"Well, there's something else I want to ask as well and I thought you might say no to this. Elaine's wanting to get the baby christened. I don't care about that kind of thing, but it makes her happy. Will you be the godfather?"

"Are you sure? I'm not exactly the best with children," Meliodas cautioned, still grinning up at his friend. "But of course if you want me, then yes. I'm going to have to practice. Elizabeth wants a big family."

"Have you decided on a name yet by the way?" Meliodas asked. It had been six weeks since the baby was born and Ban and Elaine had been trying to agree what to call their son. He had shared his birthday with the general election, and last they had talked about it, his proud parents had contemplated naming their son Jeremy in homage to the semi-victorious left-wing Labour leader.

"Yeah, and you're being godfather confirms it. We're calling him Lancelot. It started as a joke but the name's stuck. He can always shorten it to Lance if he wants."

"You are mad, d'you know that!" Meliodas exclaimed.

"Yeah well, I figured if my best friend was named for Arthurian legend then it would do just fine for my son as well," Ban said bracingly, rapping his knuckles on Meliodas' biceps. "Gelda likes the idea anyway. He's her favourite character."

"Will you two get back inside, the champagne's getting warm!" Estarossa moaned as he stomped through the door. "Most inconsiderate!"

"Where's Mela?" Meliodas asked as they made their way to the table, and he took in the composition of the party more carefully. Zeldris and Gelda were chatting with Elaine, his brother cooing over the little one in her arms, the gooey expression on his face entirely noticed by his pleased girlfriend. Arthur appeared to be discussing something earnest with Merlin by the bar, and he thought they were probably talking about an experiment they were running. Elizabeth turned away from the group as he entered and her hands picked at the frilly edges of her cuffs as she waited for him to join her. There was no sign of Estarossa's companion.

"Organising my diary I expect. This day off will have done a number on my schedule," Estarossa said with surprise. "Why? Were you expecting her?"

"Well, yes..." Meliodas muttered. "I thought... well..."

Estarossa looked at him carefully, his eyebrows suddenly shooting up into his silver hair as his face broke into a sneer. "No chance!" he spat out. "She was useful, that's all. I needed someone on the inside and she was happy to oblige. Between you and me, she'd been looking for a way out of her job with our father for years and she took her opportunity. It was a business deal, that was all."

"I see... you sure hid it well," Meliodas exclaimed.

"I knew father wouldn't mind us communicating if he thought it was romantic. He was just happy I was talking to a woman. The prejudice doesn't stop at class and race with him. I thought you knew though."

"Is this what I think it is?" Meliodas asked, examining his brother's face carefully.

"Oh, why not. Yes it is. She's not quite my type," Estarossa confirmed. "As I said, I assumed I didn't need to tell you."

"So, are you seeing anyone at the moment?" Meliodas pressed, his elbow digging into Estarossa's side.

"No. I don't have time! Especially now. Thanks to you and Zeldris I'm working flat out," Estarossa complained. "It's worth it though. I'd never have made father as cross on my own. You guys are the best."

"Come on, a toast!" Arthur gushed, handing Meliodas a glass and tapping his own vessel against it. "I won't make you say anything, far too embarrassing, but you do have to drink."

Ban and Elaine excused themselves early to give Lancelot a bath and put him to bed, but it was past midnight when everyone else returned home. They stumbled through the dark streets of the city, all extremely contented and pleased with themselves. They slept soundly, without a care in the world until the hangovers hit them with force the next morning.

* * *

The remaining days of summer passed by in a blur as Meliodas leisurely re-wrote his conclusions. He sent these to Professor Chandler three weeks after the viva and received confirmation that the new version was perfect almost by return of post. Professor Ludoshel complained that he had not been given a say on the matter, at which point the discussion between the two examiners became quite fierce. While the academics were arguing, Meliodas submitted the paperwork he needed to claim his title, and was able to start his new job at Oxford Brookes University with his doctorate complete.

As expected, the Revenue sent out a call for proposals from those wishing to run the Tax Research Group, with the promise of funding for at least five years. Arthur, lured by the prospect of a long-term guarantee that money would be available for his work, joined Meliodas in submitting a bid to run the Group. Their plans were successful, and between them they built a research programme which combined lab experiments and field trials with qualitative research. They were able to expand as the Revenue continued to fund their activities, employing researchers with skills in microsimulation and quantitative data analysis.

The Group was highly praised and brought many accolades to Meliodas and Arthur, but both found Merlin's ire difficult to deal with. The loss of her prized post-doctoral fellow hit her hard, even though she secretly agreed that it was time for Arthur to spread his wings. In a minor coup, Merlin recruited the Revenue's analyst Meliodas had been hoping to lure into academia, and the two of them set up the rival Centre of Tax Analysis. The two pairs of researchers engaged in a war by proxy in the academic journals, increasing the reach and impact of both their research programmes. Still, it was several years before the four of them could sit down together and call it quits, proof that the transition from student to colleague can be quite a challenge for both supervisor and candidate. They maintained separate research groups after this reconciliation, but willingly collaborated on larger projects.

Ban successfully completed his thesis on schedule and, as a result of his friend's recommendation, was able to join Meliodas as a lecturer at Oxford Brookes. With the birth of his son, Ban had become increasingly interested in early years development and school-based learning. He worked relentlessly to explore how inequality in educational attainment could be reduced at all stages of life and he eventually carved a reputation for himself as a world expert in the area. Ban realised he had achieved a solid standing in the literature when his name came up first with relevant searches on Google Scholar.

Reliving their student days, Ban and Meliodas set up a course in research methods and data analysis which they taught the undergraduates together. They pleased their students significantly with their spontaneous arm wrestling matches, though the faculty were less than happy with the mess this sometimes created. The two remained solid friends for the rest of their days, and often entertained their kids together so as to give Elaine and Elizabeth a well-earned break.

Elizabeth qualified as a doctor and eventually found employment with the John Radcliffe Hospital. She worked her way up the oncology department and made a supreme success of her career. The cancer survival rate was significantly higher in Oxford than in the rest of the UK and several enquiries were commissioned to try and find out the cause.

It was noted that the hospital's performance was much more in line with the national average during the four spells when Elizabeth was on maternity leave and this quickly gave rise to the myth that she had magical healing powers. Certainly her patients believed this, with many reporting that Elizabeth gave them the courage they needed to win the fight with their illness. It did not matter that Elizabeth was not one to publish in academic journals, her employer loved her for healing the sick. She received a number of awards throughout her career, but always appreciated the feedback from her grateful patients the most.

Zeldris moved to London with Gelda shortly after achieving his first class degree. He immediately set to work in the Conservative Party's policy unit, using his influence to bring the party back to the centre ground. Very gradually, the Tories began to recover their position in the polls which had slid to dangerously low levels after Bartra Liones took control of the Labour Party. But in the end, it was too little, too late and Labour easily won the next general election.

There was however a surprising result in the London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras. Zeldris had stood there to practice his campaigning skills and was as astonished as the media when he was unexpectedly elected to this safe Labour seat. The result pleased the bookmakers but annoyed his brother considerably. Estarossa was extremely peeved that the youngest Lorimer, who was still in his early twenties, had somehow become his Parliamentary representative.

Over the next eight years, Zeldris worked his way up the ranks of the party, eventually ending up as Shadow Chancellor. His intimate knowledge of the tax system made him perfect for the position, and his links to the City afforded him a bit of extra credibility. He and his colleagues felt sure they would win when Liones called a general election, and they did gain some ground. But ultimately, they suffered yet another defeat at the hands of the Labour government and were sent back to the opposition benches with their tails between their legs.

As was the custom, the Conservatives responded to the disappointment by launching a brutal leadership contest. Zeldris was the outside candidate at the start of this campaign, but he patiently won the right-wing party members over with his charisma and easy manner at the podium. Estarossa, wanting the reign of Labour and its high tax culture to end, helped his brother out by commissioning some private polling. The results showed Zeldris to be the nation's preferred candidate for the job of Prime Minister, even when compared to his Labour rivals. This tipped the scales in his favour with the party members who decided the contest, and Zeldris won the battle with ease. He took up his position of Leader of the Opposition just before the party conference season.

The press had a field day when they realised that Liones and Lorimer were related by marriage. Neither of them advertised the fact, but a few journalists had been present at Elizabeth and Meliodas' wedding and had not found it difficult to put the pieces together. The resulting media coverage did both politicians some good in the polls, the British public finding the whole business to be equal parts irritating and endearing. Some mud did stick however, and both of the men caught up in the storm found the accusations of nepotism to be hurtful and upsetting.

Zeldris and Bartra decided the only way to deal with the criticism was to use it to their advantage. Abandoning any pretence at enmity, they worked together to lay the groundwork so that Britain could re-join the EU, setting in train the sequence of events which would lead to the UK being welcomed back into Europe a decade later. Bartra took the opportunity to retire on a high, leaving the position of Prime Minister to his beleaguered deputy. It was a position the poor man did not have to struggle with for long. He was deposed by Zeldris at the first opportunity.

Shortly before that general election, Lord Lorimer succumbed to a short illness and died, and so did not witness Zeldris' triumphant ascendency to number ten. It was the biggest landslide in history, and Zeldris found himself with an extremely comfortable majority, and an appetite in the party for risk. In the face of much criticism, he appointed Ban to carry out a review of the whole education system, which allowed his friend to achieve the goal he had pursued for his entire life. Ban's recommendations brought in changes which made it easier for disadvantaged students to get good results, finally breaking down some of the entrenched class inequalities which plagued the nation. On the back of the positive media coverage, Zeldris appointed Ban to the House of Lords, and Ban, who sat on the Labour benches, used his position to fight tirelessly for better outcomes for children in care.

With Zeldris working punishing hours, Gelda had somewhat unwillingly given up her career relatively soon after her youngest was born. She had been employed in the publishing industry since completing her MPhil, deciding that Meliodas and Ban were proof enough that no one should do a PhD. She had made a great success at her job, but found juggling the demands of work, running a household practically on her own, and caring for two young children put a strain on her sanity. She simply did not get enough sleep to do all these tasks well.

Although she enjoyed spending time with her children, Gelda felt dissatisfaction at the sudden absence of intellectual stimulation. There were some days where she barely spoke to an adult at all. In search of amusement, she started writing stories for her sons, the quality of her work improving as she continued to practice. Eventually, after much encouragement from Elizabeth, she sent some manuscripts off to her former employer, who snapped them up without hesitation. The illustrated books hit the shelves a few months later, and Gelda gradually became a household name as a children's author.

As her sons grew, Gelda started writing for young adults. After a lot of difficult work, she crafted a world and a set of characters based on the Arthurian legend she had researched so carefully in her student days. She tentatively shared her work with her children, and was delighted with their enthusiastic praise. Her publisher was equally enamoured and marketed her series as the new _Harry Potter_.

Gelda had been extremely nervous that this hype would lead to her work being panned, but her books were a phenomenal success. Zeldris would accompany her to readings when the demands of his job permitted, standing at the back and watching with pride. Both he and Gelda felt relief when, after ten years in power and with the UK safely back in the EU for keeps, he was able to hand on the mantle of leadership to his successor. Zeldris immediately quit the Commons to return to journalism, and he and Gelda finally got to spend some quality time together.

Estarossa gave up his job in the city, succumbing to the sweet call of retirement. He was burned out, unable to continue with the long days and hard nights. He set up an investment company to provide advice to the rich and famous, enjoying being his own boss and dictating the rules. As with everything else, he made a spectacular success of this business venture, allowing him to travel the world in style.

Estarossa would annoy both his brothers and delight all his nieces and nephews by flashing extravagant presents whenever he came to visit, his extremely handsome significant other in tow. After leaving the City, Estarossa had finally found someone interesting enough to engage his attention, a man even more arrogant and proud than himself when in public, but with a softer poetic side that he kept hidden from the rest of the world. The contradiction in his personality was enough to keep Estarossa intrigued and the pair maintained a loving relationship.

Lord Lorimer had one final go at insulting his children before he left the world. Zeldris had tried to reach out to him on a few occasions, but his father refused to contact him, even at the very end. He left his estate to a donkey sanctuary, with the cold message that the dumb beasts were better and more deserving than his damned offspring. He would probably have been rather annoyed to know that his lawyers did not feel the need to pass on this remark, and that his children did not mourn the loss of the money. All three had long since made peace with their decisions and were contented with the way their lives had turned out.

* * *

 _Thanks very much for making it this far. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please let me know what you thought._ _This is the furthest I've gone from the NNT universe and the level of realism was new for me. I'd really appreciate your feedback on whether it was any good or not._


End file.
